


Words Don't Come Easy

by Naminae



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Drama, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 55,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9307118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naminae/pseuds/Naminae
Summary: [AU] Sakura Kinomoto is an average 24-year old girl, trying to find where she belongs in the world. After moving to Tokyo for her new job, she meets a man who grants her a generous act of kindness. She suddenly finds herself having to pay-it-forward to another stranger.





	1. Downpour

**September, 2016**

Tokyo is a city that thrives on culture and is abundant with individuals seeking the same opportunities and the same successes. There are large streets that all quite look the same, and there are many smaller streets that all look like one another as well. The inhabitants are also quite similar. Every morning, they complete the same routine. They walk across roads as if they were puppets in a show. Stop. Start. Look left. Go.

However on this very evening, there was an interruption to this performance of theirs. Rain dampened the streets of Tokyo and much to the dismay of Sakura Kinomoto, Tokyo is a lot harder to navigate amongst a sea of black umbrellas and mere metres of vision under a heavy downpour of rain.

* * *

Even when there was heavy rain in Tokyo, it was still buzzing with people. Sakura sighed and looked towards the dark sky that was ridden with clouds above her.

_Why did there have to be a storm today?_

A loud crack of thunder followed by heavy rain fell upon her. It simply wasn't fair to her. She had expected beautiful skies and lovely weather on her first day in the big city. Wiping the rain droplets off her face, Sakura dragged her feet along the pavement with a silent hope that her legs would somehow magically lead her to her apartment complex. Though, she would have no such luck. She had already spent the last of her money catching a bus to the wrong part of town and to make matters worse, she left her raincoat and umbrella back in her hometown, Tomoeda.

The dim lights of the convenience store seemed like heaven to Sakura. She rushed through the sliding doors, seeking refuge from the rain. From the top of her head to the soles of her feet, Sakura looked like she had fallen into a swimming pool. Reaching into her baby pink backpack, she grabbed an iPhone which had a very obvious crack down the middle. She had only bought the phone five months ago and it was already time to get a replacement. It didn't help that she dropped in the kitchen one time. Or maybe two times. Make that a lot of times. Sakura punched in a number that was now ingrained in her memory. This was her fifth attempt at contacting her new roommate this evening so it was no surprise when she was redirected to voicemail.

A soft, bubbly voice filled Sakura's ears, "Hello! This is Tomoyo Daidouji's phone. Sorry that I can't answer but I'll get back to you. I promise!" It was useless to try and call her again. Not only was Sakura's phone nearly dead but it was getting quite late and she had an inkling feeling that the communication lines were damaged during the storm.

Suddenly the light within the convenience store vanished and that was her cue to leave. The rain was getting heavier, the sky was getting darker and by all means, Sakura was getting tired. She glanced down at her watch and groaned. It was nearly 11:00pm and she still hadn't found her street. Maybe she should've listened to her father when he suggested to arrive earlier but it was far too late to think about that. And she was far too stubborn to tell him that.

Pulling her suitcase along the pathway, Sakura rubbed her right arm that started to ache. The monotonous action of carrying her luggage all around Tokyo was tiresome and it didn't look like she was going to stop anytime soon. There was no doubt in her mind that she was in the wrong part of town. Luxurious hotels dominated the streets left and right of her. The $180 per week contract that she signed did not match these hotels. The intricate gardens of these hotels alone conveyed that they were upwards of $600 per night.

Admitting defeat, Sakura finally decided to seek directions. The only reason why she hadn't done this earlier was her pride but nearing 11:30pm, she couldn't care less. Sakura walked towards the closest hotel and lugged her suitcase behind her. The rain was too heavy for her to make out the name of the hotel but it didn't really matter. She wasn't staying the night anyway. Pushing the rotating door, she entered the grand foyer and immediately started to shiver.

_Why didn't the hotel have the heater on? What the hell?_

Despite the cold air, the interior did live up to her luxurious-hotel-grand-foyer expectations. White marble stretched across the floor in every direction that Sakura could see. To both sides of the entrance, there were several red sofas that Sakura assumed were made from leather. Small glass tables with gold fringes sat beside each of the sofas. Upon the tables and around the foyer were varying sizes of flower assortments held together by large vases with complex designs on them.

Though, the main attraction was directly in front of her. The staircase envied those that appeared in Hollywood movies. It curved around the grand foyer, leading up to the second floor. The rails were smooth, white marble with gold accents that morphed into a golden shaped dragon on the pillars. A red carpet was placed in the middle of the staircase, making it the only piece of carpet in the entire foyer.

Sakura gulped and looked at the sneakers enclosing her feet. She definitely did not belong in here. Sakura was dressed for comfort. Her black vans were old and tattered due to years of use and after the storm tonight, they were drenched with water too. Her dark blue jeans were matched with a simple grey sweater that had a drawing of a cartoon puppy on it. By the way her hair was sticking to her cheeks and collar bones, she knew it had to be a mess as well.

Mustering up all of her courage, Sakura made her way towards the reception. She grimaced as her shoes made squeaks with every step she took on the polished marble floors. As Sakura approached the desk, she saw a girl who was probably in her early 20s sitting behind it. She felt the dread of embarrassment falling upon her again. This girl was clearly a person who valued their looks. Her jet, black straight hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her contoured cheeks were sharp and defined. She was wearing a fitted, red traditional Chinese dress which Sakura assumed to be the uniform of the hotel. _A little impractical,_ Sakura thought, remembering how uncomfortable they were. Sakura cleared her throat trying to capture the receptionist's attention but it fell on deaf ears, almost literally. The receptionist was far too engrossed in what appeared to be a personal phone call.

"You should've seen her face when Sana entered the room wearing the same dress," she laughed, "it was priceless! I would've been so embarrassed if I was her." She stretched her hand out to inspect her red manicured nails. It was only then that she noticed Sakura was behind the desk. "Can you hold on for a bit? This won't take long."

The receptionist put the phone down and her eyes crawled up and down Sakura. With her self-consciousness taking over, Sakura pulled her arms around her stomach. It was obvious the girl was judging her.

The girl locked eyes with Sakura and gave a sweet smile, "Sorry, we're full tonight." Sakura stifled a scoff. There was no chance that this hotel was full, it was far too big to be full on a random night in September.

"There are some other hotels a couple of blocks away." she paused and glanced down at Sakura's attire again, "They might be more within your price range."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She knew she didn't exactly "fit in" at this hotel the moment she entered but she didn't expect the receptionist to be so blatant about it. Ignoring the insult, Sakura's soft voice came out, "That's not what I'm here for actually but rather-

The receptionist interrupted almost immediately. "We're not interested in whatever you're selling, sorry." She went back to pick up the phone again but when she noticed that Sakura hadn't moved, the girl looked up again. "What do you want?"

Sakura's voice faltered, slightly annoyed at the treatment she was receiving. "I was wondering if you could give me directions to Kichijoji?" She rubbed her arms vigorously as she continued to feel the cold air.

The young receptionist looked into the distance and pursed her lips as she pondered in thought. After a couple of seconds, her eyes brightened, "That's on the other side of town," she paused again, a manicured finger on her chin, "I'd say it's at least 45 minutes by walking from here."

The girl wrote down more specific directions on a piece of paper for Sakura. Thanking the girl, Sakura made her way back to the rotating door and overheard the girl from the desk. "Be careful out there! It's the worst storm of the year apparently!" Sakura bowed towards the girl once again, thankful for her generosity. As she spun back around towards the door, she bumped into a hard chest.

"I'm so sorry." She yelped as she bent down to pick up the piece of paper with the directions.

"It's fine, you don't-

"Oh no, your suit's all wet!" she said as she tried to dry the suit with her bare, wet hands. "I'm sure I have some tissues in my bag, wait a second." Before Sakura could open her backpack, the person she bumped into grabbed her wrist to stop her. Sakura's eyes looked up in surprise at the man standing before her.

_Oh god, he's handsome._

The man looked down at Sakura in amusement. _Why on earth was this girl at his hotel?_ He wasn't a condescending person but this particular hotel was known to only host celebrities and people from wealthy and respected families. One glance at her attire would tell him that she fell into neither of those circles.

"That won't be necessary," he said with a polite smile that didn't reach his eyes. Sakura felt her face turn red and diverted her eyes immediately. "I'll be changing soon anyway. I hope I haven't disturbed your evening." He sidestepped past Sakura and proceeded to walk upstairs. Sakura stared at the retreating figure and bit her lip.

 _He definitely deserved to be at this hotel_.

The storm had only gotten worse while Sakura was inside. She probably wouldn't even be able to walk home anymore unless she wanted to die from hypothermia. Accepting her fate, she sat herself down on a bench outside the hotel. There was no way she'd go sit inside. The least she could do was save herself from further embarrassment.

* * *

Anyone that knew Syaoran Li would know that he looked a bit perplexed over the incident that had occurred at the entrance.

_Why was she all wet? Who wouldn't have an umbrella in this type of storm? It was all over the news for the past week._

Patting down his suit, he entered the elevator and pressed in a code to take him to the penthouse―after all, he was the owner of the luxurious hotel.

At the young age of 28, Li had already taken over the top position of his family's hotel chain. After the sudden death of his father, Li was pushed to be CEO almost immediately. At the time of the changeover, there were many sceptics as to whether he was ready for the job. However, through blood, sweat and tears, Li proved to himself and all the doubters that he was the most suitable candidate for the position. Although young, Li is highly respected by other corporate tycoons and he frequently travels across the world to attend meetings and start up new hotels. Japan was no exception to this. While he grew up in China, his hotel in Japan had become his home as of seven years ago.

The lights in his apartment flickered on automatically when he entered the room. He threw his suit jacket onto a velvet sofa and began to unbutton his navy-blue dress shirt. As he was walking towards the bathroom to get ready for bed, the sounds of his phone ringing flooded his ears. It didn't look like he was going to bed any time soon. The caller ID was from the hotel office in London.

 _Do these people not understand the concept of goddamn time zones_.

He answered the phone and walked to his office―a familiar place where he spent many of his nights.

After an hour of conversing with managing staff in his London hotel, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Sure, it was a great feat to be successful at such a young age but that didn't come without problems. Syaoran was under constant stress to solve problems and address issues with his hotels all over the world. He barely had anytime to himself these days.

Any sleepiness he felt earlier had completely disappeared. He walked over to the window and looked at the Tokyo skyline―a perk of living in the penthouse.

 _I could go for a walk before it starts raining again I guess_.

Syaoran changed into simple black sweat pants, a white V-neck shirt and sneakers. He didn't want anyone to notice him. Although, he doubted that there would be anyone outside after a storm like that. He remembered the last time Tokyo had a storm this bad―there was debris all over the streets and floods throughout Tokyo making it impossible to travel anywhere.

The elevator beeped when he arrived at the ground floor. He scoped the foyer and gave a sigh of relief when there was no one to be seen except for the receptionist who seemed too busy to notice him anyway.

Pushing the rotating door, he stepped outside into the cool night. He breathed in deeply, the fresh air filling his lungs and for the first time all day, he felt at peace. The sound of silence and the smell of rain flooded his senses. It was a rare sight to see Tokyo this silent but after the storm this evening, everyone stayed indoors which meant Syaoran was alone―just how he liked it. He rubbed his eyes in a circular motion with the palms of his hands and then stretched his arms out in front of him. He began to walk down the familiar pathway that leads to the gates of the hotel. What was usually a beautiful garden with fountains and flower beds was reduced to branches and mud. He made a mental note to inform the gardeners to fix it in the morning.

As he walked down the quiet street, he noticed a slumped figure on a bench. Syaoran squinted his eyes, making out a small baby pink backpack on the lap of the person. On approaching the bench closer, he realised that it was the girl who had bumped into him earlier.

_Is she homeless or something?_

He quickly dismissed that thought. A homeless person wouldn't be wearing a rose gold watch in public. Then why would she be sitting outside at 12:20am he wondered. It was quite cold - in fact, she was probably freezing from being absolutely drenched in water. Not only was it cold but it was also dark. A girl her age wasn't safe outside at this hour, especially alone.

Syaoran tapped the sleeping figure on the shoulder, trying to wake her up. When she didn't move, he grabbed her shoulder and started to shake her. Slowly coming out of her slumber, Sakura covered her mouth and yawned. After a couple of seconds, she realised where she was and groaned.

"Please don't tell me I fell asleep out here." Her voice was coated with dread. "I'm such an idiot." She gathered her luggage and looked up at Syaoran. "Hey, aren't you the man from the before?" Her eyes were searching his face trying to confirm if it was the same person.

He didn't reply immediately. He looked as if he was deep in his own thoughts. Sakura tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention. While waiting for his reply, Sakura got a better look of the man's face. His unruly, chestnut brown hair was wet with strands hanging over his eyes. He had thick eyebrows that were furrowed with a mix of curiosity and concern, his glowing amber eyes were mesmerising yet empty. He had his arms crossed, covering a brand label on his white V-neck shirt.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he smiled apologetically and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that was me earlier," he paused for a moment, looking questionably at her face, "if you don't mind me asking, why were you sleeping out here?"

"Well," she hesitated, "it's kind of a long story."

He glanced down at his watch and looked up at her face again. "I'm in no rush to be anywhere." He sat down beside her, "So tell me this long story of yours."

"Okay so this is my first time in Tokyo if you couldn't tell." He figured as much. He knew she wasn't homeless and there was no other reason for her to be in this area of town unless she was lost. "And when I arrived, I decided to explore a bit but when it started getting dark, I caught a bus to what I thought was my street." She was fiddling with her hands as if she was nervous to tell him what happened next. "Next thing I know, I ended up in this street and it was pouring so I asked for some directions in the hotel where I walked into you earlier." She pointed back towards the gates of the hotel. "When I came outside again, it was raining so heavily that I had to stay under this shelter until it stopped and," she paused and looked at him with a sheepish grin, "I guess I fell asleep."

"Honestly, I was expecting a longer story," he said bluntly.

"I didn't really want to explain myself to you," she replied, "it was embarrassing enough getting your suit all wet."

"Why didn't you just call a taxi at the airport?" he asked.

"I used all of my money shopping actually," she laughed, "and the bus fare too."

"So how do you plan on getting home now?"

Sakura pondered on this question for a couple of seconds. "I hadn't thought about that. I was planning to walk home once the rain had stopped but I guess that wouldn't be the best idea now. I guess I could…"

He interrupted her babbling. "Wait here."

Syaoran walked back towards the hotel and Sakura stayed put on the bench. She twiddled with her nails that were covered in chipped, peach nail polish. She hadn't had the time to put a new coat on before she left Tomoeda nor did she have the money to get a manicure like the receptionist. Sakura wondered how much receptionists get paid and whether it was more than her new job in Tokyo. She doubted it but there was a slight possibility considering how fancy this hotel was. Her train of thought stopped when she heard the footsteps of the man coming back to the bench.

He held a key card in front of her face. "It's not safe for you to go home now. So you can stay in this room for tonight." Sakura stared at him for a couple of seconds. "It's not my room," he quickly added, sensing her confusion.

"I can't accept this," she spluttered out. "I have no idea how much it cost you but it's far more than I can afford to pay you back." Sakura wanted to cry. After the day she had, the kindness that this man showed her was overwhelming.

Syaoran was caught off guard by the sudden tears. "Hey, look at me." His eyes were pleading.

_Why did she have to cry on me?_

"Please don't cry. The hotel owed me a complimentary night so you can use it okay?" he said reassuringly.

"I won't be able to pay you back anytime soon. Money is really tight right now for me you see…"

"Don't worry about that," he said but even knowing her for 20 minutes, he knew this wouldn't be enough to stop her worrying. "Look, think of it as a pay-it-forward type of deal."

"Pay-it-forward?" she questioned.

"The next time you see someone struggling, you can help them out like I did with you now." He grinned down at her, hoping it was enough to convince her.

She wiped the few tears off her cheeks with the back of her hands. "Okay." She looked at him with gleaming, emerald eyes. "I'll try my best!"

"Now please do me a favour and clean yourself up. Get some rest too. You look miserable." Sakura's face went bright red and she quickly picked up her luggage.

"Thank you so much. Really," she mumbled before running off to the entrance of the hotel. Syaoran smiled to himself. At least he could make someone's day a little bit better.

Sakura reached the rotating doors a little out of breath. Lifting her hand up to push the door, she realised she hadn't even asked the man for his name.

 _How rude of me_.

Turning around, she yelled, "Sorry, but what was your―"

She stopped when she didn't see anyone in her line of sight.

 _I can find out in the morning maybe_.

Turning back around, she entered the hotel. It wasn't the time to worry about his name now. She was far too exhausted to think about anything other than a hot shower and a nice warm bed.


	2. Calm After the Storm

**September, 2016**

The morning sun engulfed the hotel room, shining rays of light upon Sakura's face. Though the sun persisted in its attempts to wake her up, she rolled over and snuggled deeper into the silky sheets of the bed. A little while later, there were three loud knocks on the door of the room. Still not wanting to leave the comfortable bed, Sakura ignored the knocks. Three knocks were heard again but this time, they were followed by a shout, "Room service!"

The aroma of food entered Sakura's nostrils as she lied on the bed. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up clutching the blanket to her chest. She didn't remember ordering any food. With her eyebrows furrowed, she got out of bed and slipped on the robe provided by the hotel. As she made her way to the dining area, she heard the humming of an old lady.

"Good morning, darling." She bowed politely in Sakura's direction. "I hope you like pancakes, dear. It's the chef's special today." The old lady continued to carry bowls of sweets and savories to the table. There were strawberries, bananas, cream, and even bacon. Sakura's mouth began to water. It had been a long time since she ate such a large meal.

Sakura hugged the robe closer to her body. "Sorry but I think you have the wrong room. I didn't order any of this."

With a mirth in her eyes, the lady looked at Sakura. "This must be your first time staying here." She gestured towards the food, "All of this comes complimentary with your stay."

Sakura pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. She timidly picked up a fork and started to push the food around. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this awkward. It was one thing for her father to bring her breakfast in bed but a maid delivering it to her room? This was a completely new experience for her, but she was grateful because her stomach had been grumbling ever since she had woken up. As the maid started pushing the trolley away, she stopped and pulled something out of her pocket.

"I was told to give you this, dear." She placed a piece of paper the table. "Now eat up. I can hear your stomach growling all the way from over here." She giggled and returned to the trolley. Sakura's face flushed a soft pink before she giggled as well. Moving to Tokyo was a big step for Sakura. After all, Tomoeda is basically non-existent in most people's minds. The kindness and attention that the old woman had given her made her feel right at home.

She took bite of a strawberry and opened the card. In fine, cursive writing the card read:

_Hello,_

_The check-out is set for 11:00am._

_Remember to pay-it-forward!_

The note was simple and straight to the point. _He could've at least written his name,_ she thought. Sakura traced the decorative border with her fingers. On the bottom, right hand corner of the paper, it read: _Li Resorts Tokyo_.

* * *

The hall outside her room was quiet. One would think there was no one staying at this hotel. Sakura tip-toed towards the elevator, scared of disturbing the other people on the floor. Thankfully for her, it was empty. She pressed the button for ground floor and closed her eyes.

 _Today is going to be a good day_.

The wheels of her suitcase on the polished floors was the only source of comfort for Sakura. Unlike the night before, there were several people in the foyer. Speaking all kinds of languages that she couldn't understand. Walking past the hordes of people, she made her way to the reception. The girl that had helped yesterday was not sitting there today. Instead, a much older man greeted her. Sakura handed the key card over and waited.

"Could you please tell me what name the room was under?" Sakura asked. She recalled that she hadn't given the man her name, nor did she sign anything. Perhaps this was her chance to find out his name.

"The room was under the name of Yamada Taro."

Sakura thanked the man and walked towards the exit. She didn't know anyone called Yamada Taro. In fact, it was a name often used for victims with unknown identities on the news.

_Was this his real name?_

Sakura doubted it. He hadn't mentioned his name when they met or on the letter. It was becoming more and more clear that he wanted to keep his identity a secret. She wondered why but didn't think too much on it. It's not like she would be seeing him again.

The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. There was not a single drop of rain in sight or cloud in the sky above her. If Sakura hadn't known better, she would've thought she woke up in a different city. This was the Tokyo she had expected. Sakura walked out past the gates and began to follow the directions the receptionist gave her the night before. After a couple of minutes, her phone started to ring. Tomoyo Daidouji was written across the screen.

"Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry!" She had to hold the phone away from her ear because of the loud screams coming out of it. "I fell asleep while waiting for you and I just read your messages that you couldn't find the apartment." She was speaking so fast that Sakura could barely say anything back. "Sakura-chan, will you ever forgive me? I'm already the worst roommate in the world." Tomoyo whined.

"Daidouji-sa―"

"Tomoyo-chan," she corrected.

"Tomoyo-chan, don't worry about it. I stayed at a hotel instead."

Tomoyo let out another cry. "I'm so sorry Sakura-chan!" Sakura heard a door slamming on the other end of the phone. "Where are you now? I'll come and get you."

Since they hadn't met each other before, Tomoyo suggested to meet at a café near the apartment block. While walking to the café, Sakura thought about the letter again. She wondered what type of act she would be doing. There was no way she could buy a hotel room for someone. It would have to be something less... expensive. She momentarily thought that she wouldn't have to help anyone.

 _He didn't give me his contact information so he wouldn't find out anyway_.

But she rejected this thought, good things come to good people. She won't be paying it forward because she has to but rather now, it's because she wants to.

Sakura arrived at the small café that Tomoyo told her about. Little potted plants with flowers adorned the outside area. At the table closest to the window was a girl who sat by herself, tapping away on her phone.

Sakura walked up towards the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. "Are you Tomoyo-chan?"

A beautiful, unblemished pale face looked at Sakura. She had long, wavy natural black hair falling just below her petite waist. Her eyes were a striking shade of dark blue with long, dark lashes and two symmetrically, plucked lines above them. She had a small button nose accompanied by cheeks that appeared to be a permanent shade of light pink.

"You're so cute, Sakura-chan," she squealed and attacked Sakura with a hug. Tomoyo pushed Sakura in front of her, trying to get a better look. "You'll have to come to my work one day. We have so many cute clothes for you to wear!"

After Tomoyo finally let go of her, she took a seat and flipped through the menu. "Where do you work?"

A business card was placed on top of the menu. "I work at a dress shop about 15 minutes from here." Sakura read the card closely. It had a picture of a dress with the words tailoring, fittings and creations written under it. "I've drawn so many designs but I've only been tailoring other people's clothes so far." She took a bite of her lime cake. "It's my dream to open up my own store one day!" Tomoyo's eyes were lit up the entire time.

While Sakura was happy for her, she also felt a pang of envy. Sakura had spent her whole life not knowing what she wanted to do or where to go. She enrolled in different degrees and had different jobs but she hadn't loved any of them. She wished she had a passion like Tomoyo. Her life would be so much easier. Luckily her father was a well-known professor and helped her get a job as a teacher's aide at a primary school in Tokyo.

 _It's better than nothing_.

She didn't want to work at a grocery store for the next 50 years, that's for certain.

"Sakura-chan, you haven't touched your cake. Are you alright?" Tomoyo's eyes were glazed with concern.

Sakura snapped her head up and smiled at Tomoyo. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've already eaten today so I'm not really hungry anymore."

"What hotel did you stay at last night?" Tomoyo asked.

"A hotel not too far from here," she paused, looking down at the letter again, "it's called Li Resorts."

Tomoyo choked on her food and started coughing. "How did you afford to stay there? I've only heard of celebrities staying in those hotels."

Sakura giggled. Everything made sense now. The reason why he didn't tell her his name. The reason why the receptionist dismissed her at first glance. The reason why the man paid for the room without any problems. "This man helped me―"

A loud clang of cutlery interrupted Sakura; Tomoyo had dropped her chopsticks. "You didn't sleep with a man to stay in a hotel, did you?"

Sakura smacked Tomoyo's arm playfully. "No Tomoyo-chan! He said it was a gift."

"He must've thought you were cute and I don't blame him." Sakura shook her head in disagreement. "Helping a damsel in distress, that's so romantic Sakura-chan!" she squealed and leant in closer. "Did you get his number?"

"No."

Tomoyo pouted. "Did you at least get his name?"

"No."

Tomoyo let out the breath she was holding. "Sakura-chan, you really are useless." Before Sakura could retort, Tomoyo stood up and rattled her keys. "Let's go home now."

* * *

The sounds of footsteps and Tomoyo's panting echoed in the hallway outside their apartment. Sakura had always been athletic since school and it was no different now that she was an adult. The same couldn't be said for Tomoyo. Unfortunately for her, the elevator broke down earlier that day so they had to walk to the 21st floor instead.

"We're almost there Tomoyo-chan, don't pass out on me." Sakura yelled. With her hands shaking, Tomoyo tried to insert the key into the lock. Key word: tried. "Maybe you needed the exercise." Sakura laughed and took the keys from Tomoyo. The keys easily glided in and Sakura entered the apartment. She could feel Tomoyo's death glare boring into her back.

The apartment was littered with clothes, pictures of designs, fabrics and the colour purple. If there was one fact she learned about Tomoyo today, it was that her favourite colour is purple.

"Sorry for the mess!" Tomoyo rushed past Sakura and picked up the scraps of paper on the floor. "I've been really inspired lately with this autumn weather." She motioned to Sakura to follow her to the other end of the apartment. Tomoyo opened the door wide open. "This is your room and the bathroom is just around the corner." She pointed towards another door. "I'll let you unpack in peace but if you need anything, my room is right over there."

Sakura lied down on her bed. Her first two days in Tokyo had been eventful to say the least. Everyone she had met so far had been incredibly nice to her. She heard many rumours in Tomoeda that the people who lived in Tokyo were mean and snobby but she was yet to meet anyone like that.

She started to unpack the clothes in her suitcase. Tomoyo had already put fresh sheets on her bed. And yes, the colour of the sheets was a dark purple. Sakura didn't bring many clothes to Tokyo as she planned to buy new ones when she started her job. It didn't take too long for her to unpack. She reached in for the last two items and placed them on her bedside table. They were pictures of her family. The first one was taken when she graduated high school. Sakura had a big grin on her face with her arms wrapped around her father and brother with matching smiles. The second picture was one from her parent's wedding. Her mother passed away when she was young so she couldn't remember her too well. But having her mother watch over her was comforting. A sudden wave of emotions overcame Sakura and a tear rolled down her cheek. It was quickly wiped off.

_No more tears._

* * *

Massaging his temples in a circular motion had become a habit of Syaoran's. After being cooped up in his office all day, he was exhausted. He would often work late into the night but today, he had a throbbing headache. It was time to relax. Just for a bit. Just as he shut down his laptop, the sounds of a trolley could be heard. Dinner was here.

"I gave her the letter like you asked," the old lady said. "She seemed like a lovely girl, Syaoran," she paused and looked at Syaoran directly in the eyes, "and definitely not your type."

Syaoran glared back at her. "I didn't do anything with her if that's what you're thinking, Mei." He sat down at the table. "She was stuck in the storm last night and I helped her out. That's it."

Mei let out a chuckle. "It's nice to see that you're not completely unaffected by a pretty face."

Syaoran sighed. He had known Mei for his whole life. Even before he was CEO of the hotel chain. She was a loyal employee of his family for several years now and she even helped in raising Syaoran. But at times, like now, she did cross the line. "Don't you have other rooms to service?" Giggling again, Mei left him in peace.

The peace didn't last long. Only five minutes had passed before there were knocks on the door. Syaoran frowned. He didn't remember having guests tonight. As he walked towards the door, the knocks started getting louder and faster. This was not helping his headache. Not helping at all.

Frustrated, Syaoran opened the door with a swift pull. "What?" He yelled with rage in his eyes. Though, his eyes immediately softened when he saw who it was.

"It's only me, dear cousin," a man with glasses said. "Did you forget that I was bringing Ryuu back today?"

A small child hiding behind the man's leg appeared. "Hi dad." Shy, amber eyes looked up at Syaoran. Realisation flooded Syaoran's senses. Ryuu started school tomorrow. _Oh shit_.

Syaoran ruffled Ryuu's hair. "There's dinner on the table," he said with a tight smile. While Ryuu walked past Syaoran to the kitchen, Syaoran turned back towards the man at the door. It was Eriol. His longest and closest friend―who happened to be his cousin as well.

"I've told you at least ten times that Ryuu starts school tomorrow and you still forget." Eriol sighed. "He's really excited for it so please pretend to care, just a little bit," he pleaded.

"I'll try my best. Thanks again Eriol." Syaoran said before shutting the door. He was mentally slapping himself for forgetting all of this. Work had been so busy for the past couple of days but that was no excuse to forget his son's first day of school.

The TV was turned on to the cartoon channel and Ryuu was eating his dinner on the couch. Grabbing the remote, Syaoran turned the TV off. "No eating on the couch."

Ryuu didn't say anything as he walked back to the table. The only sound in the apartment was the sound of chopsticks hitting each other. Trying to ease the tension, Syaoran coughed.

"Are you excited for your first day of school tomorrow?" he asked.

Ryuu finished chewing and looked up in surprise. "You remembered?" Syaoran winced. Any reasonable person who had seen Ryuu with Syaoran and Eriol would think Eriol was his father. The relationship that Syaoran shared with Ryuu was awkward and tense. And it was entirely Syaoran's fault. He worked so much that he barely ever saw Ryuu. "I'm really excited! I was scared before but Eriol-kun said that I'll get to play soccer with other kids. He got me a new bag too and it's really―"

The beeps and vibrations of Syaoran's phone interrupted Ryuu. He glanced down at his phone and read ' _Hong Kong Office'_. He gave an apologetic look towards Ryuu and left the room to answer it. Unbeknownst to Syaoran, Ryuu's fists were clenching the chopsticks as he tried to fight back his tears. The one time he got to spend with his father was interrupted again. It always happens. He should've known better. His father actually caring about him would be too good to be true.

Syaoran walked back into his office with his phone held against his ear. There were more problems with the investors in Hong Kong and apparently, his sister desperately needed him to fix her mistake. It was annoying. It always happened too. One of his employees, somewhere in the world would make a mistake and he'd have to fly there to fix it. He didn't think the job was hard at all. All you had to do was follow his instructions and keep the clients happy. But for some reason, only he could do this. After almost an hour of arguing and trying to compromise, Syaoran was left with no choice. He had to go to Hong Kong this evening or else he could potentially lose one of his biggest investors. He threw the phone against the wall after his sister hung up. He had quite the temper when things didn't go his way. And now that he was going to disappoint Ryuu, he was furious.

Knocking lightly on the door, Syaoran entered Ryuu's bedroom. A small light was shining on Ryuu's face. He was playing on his Gameboy like he always did whenever he had to come home. Syaoran's apartment didn't have as many toys these days. Most of them were moved to Eriol's house for obvious reasons.

Though Ryuu's eyes didn't leave the screen, Syaoran knew he was listening. "Ryuu, I have to leave for Hong Kong tonight so pack your bags while I call Eriol."

Ryuu looked at him with wide eyes. "Does that mean you can't come tomorrow?"

Syaoran nodded in response and Ryuu's eyes returned to his Gameboy, but this time, he wasn't playing it.

Syaoran was getting agitated. Ryuu hadn't moved an inch since he told him of what was happening. "Ryuu, hurry up. I have to get on the next plane."

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Syaoran began to text Eriol about the situation. He knew Eriol would not be pleased. If Ryuu wasn't around, Eriol would probably beat him up for how bad of a father he is. As he typed the message to Eriol, an object flew passed him and crashed into the wall.

"I hate you," Ryuu mumbled without looking at Syaoran.

"What did you just say?" Syaoran asked. He was not happy. The paint on the wall would be chipped off now or even worse, there could be a dent in the wall. More importantly, his son just threw an object at him. _What happened to his manners? What was Eriol teaching him?_ If Syaoran had treated his parents like this when he was younger, he would've been grounded for the next five decades.

"I said I hate you!" he cried out, angrily. His anger didn't last long before a flood of tears fell down his cheeks. "You always leave me with Eriol-kun!"

Syaoran picked up the Gameboy and sat down next to Ryuu. "You know I have to do these things so you can have stuff like this." He placed the Gameboy into Ryuu's hands.

"I don't care about those things." He sniffed. After a few more minutes of crying and sniffling, he whispered, "Sometimes I wish Eriol-kun was my dad instead of you."

Clenching his jaw down, Syaoran tried to contain his emotions. "Just pack your bags."

Syaoran returned to his room and collapsed. He didn't know what he was doing. He knew Ryuu hated him but hearing him say it out loud made it so much more real. His eyes were red and his heart was aching. He clenched the fabric of his pants and breathed in and out. It was the method he used to calm himself down. He can't break down. It wasn't in his nature. He hadn't broken down since the day his wife died and on that day, he decided he wouldn't again. But life had been hard. Too hard. Syaoran changed drastically after losing his wife. He became an introvert. A workaholic. A person who no one really knew. He struggled by himself and didn't dare seek help from anyone. Not Mei and definitely not Eriol. He hated himself for it. He knew how wrong it was to do this to Ryuu and he knew how upset his wife would be if she could see him now. But in his mind, it was too late to change. So, he continued to do what he had been doing ever since Kimi left. He pushed the people he loved away and kept to himself. He maintained a serious persona while he broke down on the inside day after day.

 _I wish it had been me instead of you, Kimi_.

Persistent knocking and light footsteps interrupted his reverie. He wiped off the lone tear and fixed his suit. He didn't want Eriol to see him like this and he especially didn't want Ryuu to see him like this. Putting on a smile, he went to bid them farewell.


	3. New Encounters

**September, 2016**

"Sakura-chan." The voice belonged to Tomoyo; Sakura was certain of that. But for some reason, it sounded like she was far away―as if she was calling her name from the top of a mountain.

_Why is she so far away?_

"Sa-ku-ra-chan." Her tone was more urgent now. It sounded like she was in trouble.

_What happened to Tomoyo-chan?_

"Sakura-chan, wake up!" This time she yelled. Sakura jolted up with her bedsheets falling around her. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and saw Tomoyo standing at the end of the bed with her arms crossed against her chest. "Don't you have to get ready for work?"

Tomoyo was a sight to see. She was dressed from head to toe in beautiful clothing. Her wavy hair was neat and her makeup was perfect. It was the complete opposite of Sakura's current state. She was in her old, flannel pyjamas and had her hair sticking out in all different directions.

Her hand reached over for the iPhone charging on her bedside table. Sakura's eyebrows darted up. "Tomoyo-chan, I'm going to be late!" she cried as she pushed past Tomoyo into the bathroom. Today was her first day as a teacher's aide at the local elementary school so she had to look her best. Not that there was anyone special to impress but parents often come in with children on their first day so a little extra effort wouldn't hurt anyone.

After applying a light pink lip tint, she proceeded to brush her hair. She had grown her hair out since she left high school. It hung just below her shoulders now but it was nowhere near her waist like Tomoyo's hair. She stared long and hard at herself in the mirror, gathering her hair and mimicked the hairstyle she had in her youth. After a couple of seconds, her mouth twitched and she let go. The old bob haircut made her look like a teenager again which is something she didn't want. If anything, she wanted to be taken seriously at her new job―from both her peers and students.

In the reflection of the mirror, Sakura could see Tomoyo's head peeking through the door. "Let me fix that for you." Tomoyo took the brush out of Sakura's hands and braided her long, golden brown locks. She then twirled her around in a circle, checking if everything was in place. Satisfied with what she saw, Tomoyo's hands held Sakura an arm length away. "Sakura-chan, let me take a photo of your first day of school!" She brought a camera out of nowhere, as if she had been planning to take a photo of Sakura all morning.

Sakura giggled at Tomoyo's antics. "I'll have to pass on that, Tomoyo-chan." Tomoyo pouted. "It's my first day of _teaching_ , not my first day of school," Sakura emphasised. She remembered when her father took photos of her at the beginning of every school year. She loved when he did it. She loved going to school too. Sakura was the type of student to be involved in everything. Athletics, festivals, clubs. Though, this changed when she entered university. Her friends went to different cities, different universities. The pressure to decide on a career for the rest of her life was too much. With too many options and no clear direction, Sakura was lost. She still was and that's why she was thankful she came to Tokyo. Hopefully, teaching would be her passion and if not, she was determined to find something else.

"You can't be serious." Sakura wanted to laugh. She knew Tomoyo was a bit crazy after their first phone call but not to this extent. "You're going to make me late."

"And you're going to deprive me of inspiration." She retorted. "Pretty please?" Tomoyo gave her puppy dog eyes. It was a common tactic she used to get what she wanted. It worked on her mother, her friends, her ex-boyfriends―everyone―and she knew Sakura would be no exception.

"Just one photo."

* * *

The walk to the primary school wasn't too far from where she lived. That's part of the reason why she picked the apartment in the first place. The other reason was the cheap rent due to having a roommate. She was originally worried at the thought of a roommate. Sakura was unsure if they'd get along or if the roommate was a good person. After meeting Tomoyo, any worries she had went completely out the door. Tomoyo was more of a friend than a roommate at this point. She had been nothing but kind to Sakura so far and Sakura couldn't wait to see what the future had in store for them.

It was her first time walking down this pathway in Tokyo. The pathway was covered in coloured leaves. She saw a mixture of red, orange, yellow and green. It was currently Autumn in Japan. She couldn't wait until Spring when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. It was her favourite flower - she was even named after it. Her brother used to tell her stories about the cherry blossom trees in Tokyo. He told her that they had magical powers unlike the ones in Tomoeda. Apparently, if you're under the rows of pink petals in Tokyo, you will find your soulmate. She smiled at the memory. She believed it then but now that's she's older, she knew he was just messing with her.

She crouched down and grazed her fingers against the leaves. They used to be bright and full of life but now they lied on the ground. Destined for nothing. They were beautiful in every form. Unique shapes, rich colours and varying textures. Yet here they fell onto the pavement―subject to wherever the wind brought them to. Sakura felt like that sometimes; she went wherever life carried her off to and this time, she landed in Tokyo.

The elementary school wasn't large, it wasn't too small either. It was an average sized school with very selective enrolment requirements. It was a school for bright kids. Ones who had already shown promising signs of intelligence. At the same time, it was a school for rich kids. It was no secret that most families paid their way in. That's how money worked. If you had lots of it, you could get whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. Everything seemed so easy for them. Sakura knew a girl in Tomoeda who was wealthy. She had the biggest parties, the latest designer clothes and the fastest cars. She was popular with the students and teachers too. She could get away with anything it seemed. People are funny like that. They turn a blind eye to those who already had everything and then they take it all away from the people who didn't.

There were kids playing games outside and others were just arriving. She walked through the halls of the school, heading towards the classroom she was designated. The walls were covered with artwork done by the children. Some were good but the majority were bad. She wouldn't say that to their parents though. There were girls laughing and boys talking. Parents were taking pictures and some children were crying. There were even a few tears in the parents' eyes.

She took a left down the hallway that said 'Grade 1' and stopped at the door that said 'Chiharu Mihara and Sakura Kinomoto'. She hadn't met the teacher she would be working with for the rest of the year yet. All she knew was that she was a girl like her. She entered the classroom and saw a girl running around the room.

"You must be Sakura Kinomoto." She smiled but it quickly faded. She pointed towards a piece of paper on the front desk. "Sorry but there's still a lot to set up before the students come in. Could you put the name tags on the tables according to the chart?" Sakura picked up the chart and counted 20 boy and girl names.

There were a few minutes of silence before Sakura heard Chiharu slapping herself. "How rude of me! I haven't even introduced myself properly." Chiharu walked over to Sakura and held out her hand. "My name is Chiharu Mihara but you can call me Chiharu-chan. I look forward to working with you this year." She bowed and so did Sakura. They would be working closely throughout the year so dropping the formalities at the beginning would save an awkward conversation later. "I know this is your first-year teaching but it'll be fun, trust me!" she chirped. She reminded Sakura of Tomoyo―both were friendly and reassuring. "The kids are really lovely. If anything, the parents are the scariest thing you'll face this year." Her eyes told Sakura that there was a story behind that comment. "It won't be long until the children start arriving."

She wasn't wrong. Only five minutes later, kids and parents started to file in through the door. Chiharu was introducing herself to the new parents and catching up with the old faces. Sakura followed suite. Although, she didn't know anyone prior so unfortunately for her, there were a lot of names to remember.

A woman wearing a black power suit strolled into the classroom. She had shiny stilettos on and her blonde hair was wrapped into a high ponytail. Her face was shiny and puffed, covered in makeup. However, her big, bug-eyed sunglasses covered half of her face. Behind her was a miniature version of her. Blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. This is exactly what Sakura had expected to see at this school.

"Good morning, I'm Sakura Kinomoto and I'll be helping Mihara-san this year." She bowed politely to the two girls. The little girl bowed and stuck her hand up to Sakura. "I'm Hana." Before Sakura could shake her hand, the mother pushed her out of the way.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my daughter," she said in a hushed whisper. "If Hana says one bad thing about you, I'll be seeing your superior immediately." The colour drained out of Sakura's face. This was the scary parent Chiharu had warned her about.

"I'm sure there will be no problems." She maintained a smile but deep down, she was terrified. One wrong move or miscommunication with a child could go back to their parents and get her fired. She had no interest in losing the job. The pair walked over to Chiharu and from the look Chiharu had, Sakura knew that she received the same warning.

Sakura's eyes skimmed through the classroom. The children were laughing and the parents were talking. It was all going well so far except for the little mishap with Hana and her mother. She did a quick headcount of the children in the classroom and noticed one hadn't arrived yet. Various scenarios ran through her head. _Maybe they were late. Or they decided to choose another school. Or the child was sick. Or maybe he was too scared._ They were all logical reasons to her until she caught the glimpse of a small boy outside the classroom door. _Or maybe he's just alone_.

Sakura walked over to the boy and crouched down until she was eye level. She held her hand out to the boy. "Hello, I'm Kinomoto. What's your name?" The boy didn't reply. His hands were tightly clasped around the straps of his backpack and his head was facing his shoes. "Do you know where your parents are?" He shook his head. Sakura looked down the hallway and saw that it was empty. It was a bit odd for a parent to leave a child by himself like this. "Are you alone today?" He shook his head no again.

"Ryuu! What did I tell you about talking to strangers? It's not safe." A man with dark black hair that it almost seemed blue and circular framed glasses came running down the hallway.

"I didn't say anything to her," the child grumbled. Sakura giggled. They were cute together. All the children came in with their mothers so it was fun to see a father come in with his son. It reminded her of her childhood. Having no mother for most of the life meant that her father went to all the events and meetings at school. It was painfully awkward to explain the absence of her mother back then. She didn't dare to put them in the same situation if that was the case.

Sakura stood up. "I'm Sakura Kinomoto. I'll be helping Mihara-san this year. It's a pleasure to meet you both." She looked down at Ryuu. "I hope we won't be strangers anymore."

The man gave his attention to Sakura now. His eyes wandered up and down her figure. "I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa." He took her hand to his mouth and gave it a light kiss. "The pleasure is all mine, Kinomoto-san." A blush crept up on Sakura's cheeks.

"Let me show you where Ryuu will be sitting. Mihara-san is also inside, Hiiragizawa-san."

"Eriol is fine, Kinomoto-san." He grinned. "I feel like we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year so let's drop the formalities." Sakura nodded in response but avoided meeting his eyes. He was more forward than any other man she had met. Sakura knew she was pretty but she was no model―no matter how obsessed Tomoyo was with her. She had good and bad qualities but the lack of male attention over the past year had her wondering if she had more bad than good.

There was no denying Eriol was handsome but Sakura had to question his intentions. Was he just being kind or did he have ulterior motives? And if he did, what about Ryuu's mother? It didn't make sense but it would be too personal to ask.

After everyone had taken a seat, Chiharu began to explain the activities and academic plan for the semester. It was only grade 1, so there were a lot more activities than academics but nonetheless, these were items of information the parents needed to know. There were a few questions―some from Hana-chan's mother―but not many. It didn't take long until the parents started to leave and this was followed by more tears. Sakura was handing out tissues when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Here is my personal number, Sakura-san." Eriol handed her a little piece of paper. "Should you ever have a problem with Ryuu, please call." He leaned in a bit closer this time. "Or if you have any problems in general, I'm always available." Sakura's face went bright red this time. She knew exactly what he meant and this time he saw her reaction. His smile grew even larger. "Bye Ryuu! Be nice to your new teachers," he said as he hugged Ryuu before exiting the classroom. She had to admit, it's pretty damn cute to see a father's affection for his child. It gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

The day went along fine. Most of it was spent getting to know each other. Little groups of children were starting to form but Sakura noticed that Ryuu kept to himself most of the time. While the kids were getting ready for lunch, Sakura approached him. "Ryuu-kun, why aren't you talking with the other kids?" He didn't reply. Maybe he was shy after all. "You can tell me anything, Ryuu-kun. I won't tell anyone, I promise." She raised her pinkie out in front of him.

He studied the pinkie for a couple of seconds and Sakura noticed his deep hue of amber eyes. They were completely different to Eriol's but then again, he probably took after his mother. He interlocked his pinkie with hers. "They don't like me." She lifted an eyebrow. Surely that wasn't the case. It was only the first day and 19 children couldn't dislike him.

"Don't say that Ryuu-kun. Just give them more time." She smiled. "They'll come around eventually." He nodded hesitantly and went back to his table. Perhaps she'd need to call Eriol sooner than she thought.

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You've been in Tokyo for a total of 3 days and during that time, you've met two hot guys and one of them gave you his number?" Tomoyo flipped over the piece of lace she was working on. Sakura had gone to Tomoyo's workplace after she had finished for the day. She didn't want to be alone by herself in the apartment.

"That's right,"―Tomoyo stared at Sakura in disbelief―"but it's a bit unprofessional to get involved with my student's father, don't you think?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sakura-chan, you're too innocent for your own good." She threw the piece of lace into the trashcan. "You're still young so try to mess around a bit. Who knows where it will lead you." She was right but Sakura still wasn't sure. Eriol seemed nice but a child would just complicate things. She stuffed the number in her bag and didn't think of it again. Talking about Eriol made her think of Ryuu. He didn't seem too eager to make friends with any of his classmates.

"Tomoyo-chan, what were you like when you were young?" Sakura asked. She was popular when she was in school. It was easy for her back then but now, she didn't know how she could help Ryuu.

Tomoyo grabbed the scissors and cut along the fabric. "I wouldn't say that I was popular but I did have a small group of close friends. I met most of them in the school choir." She paused. "Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"

"There was a boy in my class who didn't really get along with the other kids." Sakura picked up a piece of Tomoyo's sushi.

"It has only been one day so I don't think you should start stressing about that yet," she said. "Some people take longer to open up to others. I was a bit like that." She took her sushi box protectively. "Now if I knew you were going to eat my dinner, I would've made some for you."

* * *

Syaoran stepped out of the black Rolls Royce and walked towards the entrance of the Chinese restaurant. It was the early evening in Hong Kong and he was scheduled to meet with one of the investors threatening to pull out. His sister would be at the dinner as well which he was dreading. He had four older sisters but only Fuutie decided to be involved with the family business. He would've preferred her not to be involved but one is better than all four of them. The restaurant owner greeted him at the door and guided him to the private dining rooms. They had been friends for a long time. Whenever he was in Hong Kong for business, this was his go-to restaurant for meetings. It was quiet and private―exactly how he liked it.

As he approached the room, he could hear his sister laughing along with an older man. He hoped he wasn't late. He slid the door open and he was met with two red faces.

"Xiao Lang, I've missed your cute face so much!" His sister walked over and opened her arms.

He held a hand up to stop her from getting any closer to him. "Fuutie."

"Give your poor sister a hug, Li." The other man in the room chuckled. It was more than enough to persuade Syaoran to open his arms. At the end of the day, that man had all the power, not Li.

After sitting down across from the man, Li folded his arms. "My sister has informed me that you'd like to pull your investment out of the company, is that correct?" He wasn't the type to play games with his investors. He wanted to be in and out so he could fix the problem in as little time as possible and go back to Japan before the rest of his sisters find out he's in Hong Kong.

"Straight into business as usual, Li." He put chopsticks down. "I shouldn't have expected anything different from you." The man had his hands clasped, carefully studying Syaoran. "How about we start off with some lighter topics." He took a swig of wine. "Tell me how your little boy is. His name was Ryuu, right?"

Syaoran nodded. "He's fine. He had his first day of school today."

"I'm surprised your mother let him stay in Japan for school."

Syaoran's jaw clenched at the mention of his mother. "It's what Ryuu's mother would've wanted." An awkward silence dawned upon them. Sensing his discomfort, Fuutie quickly changed the subject. Syaoran didn't like talking about Ryuu to his business partners yet, they always brought him up. It was a business tactic. They were trying to elicit some sort of emotional response from him. They wanted him to talk about Ryuu and then about Kimi but Syaoran kept his cards close. He always kept it short and simple. It was a business world and they were playing a business game. If they knew any of his weaknesses, they'd go in for the kill.

"Let's reschedule the business details for another meeting. I'm a bit too tired to think about all of that now," the man said. Syaoran blinked. He came all the way to Hong Kong for an emergency meeting and now the man wanted to postpone.

"Sure," Syaoran said with a tight smile, eyes hard. The man threw a napkin on the plate and left the siblings alone. It wasn't a comfortable silence between them. It wasn't awkward either. Syaoran was holding onto the chopsticks so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

"Xiao―"

"Don't talk."

She pouted and opened her mouth again. "Xiao Lang, why didn't you tell me it was Ryuu's first day of school? I could've planned the dinner for another time." Her arms were crossed.

He stared at her incredulously. "You want to know why I wasn't there today, Fuutie?" You really want to know?" He stood up. "Because every time you stuff up or someone else stuffs up something in this goddamn company," he pointed towards himself, "I have to fix it. I have to leave my child with Eriol and fly across oceans to fix your mistakes." He leant over her. "And you want to know what Ryuu said to me before I left Japan last night?" Fear crossed her face. Syaoran had never acted like this in front of her before. "He told me that he hated me." He laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was full of sadness. "And you know what I did Fuutie?" His eyes glistened with tears. "I told him to pack his bags and I hopped on the next plane to Hong Kong to attend this stupid meeting of yours." She said nothing. Her hands were trembling. She had never seen such emotion from him before.

Syaoran cleared his throat and straightened his tie. "Email my secretary with the details of the next meeting. I'll be waiting." He paused before he exited the room. "Do not mention this to anyone." It was a soft whisper, one that you could barely hear. But she heard it. Loud and clear.

It wasn't his intention to tell Fuutie all of that. He didn't want her to feel bad and he definitely didn't want her to know what Ryuu said. If anyone should feel bad, it should be him. He should've stayed in Japan for Ryuu's first day. It was a once in a lifetime thing and he missed it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he felt the stress coming back to him. It wasn't getting any easier to handle it. His phone started to ring and he had a feeling that it was Fuutie. He had hoped not. He really didn't want to explain himself for what had just happened.

"I thought you'd have the decency to call and ask Ryuu about his first day but since you don't, I'm calling you now to call you an ass." It was Eriol.

"How did it go then?" he asked, feeling even worse that he hadn't called earlier.

"It went quite splendid actually. Ryuu said he enjoyed himself."

"That's all that matters, right?" Syaoran had a small smile on his face. He was glad Ryuu had a good day.

"Yep. His teacher is cute as well mind you. Beautiful, green eyes she had." Syaoran rolled his eyes. "You already know that I slipped her my number." He heard Eriol laughing on the other side of the phone.

"Please do me a favour and don't get involved with Ryuu's teacher."

"Please do me a favour and raise your own child. Do you know how much harder it is to get girls with a child following you around all the time? They all think I'm married." Eriol went silent for a bit.

Syaoran chuckled. "What makes you think this teacher won't think you're married then?" He knew Eriol just had a moment of realisation. He heard the clip of the phone and looked at the screen. Eriol hung up on him. Syaoran shook his head in amusement. He could always count on Eriol to make him laugh.


	4. Baby Steps

**September, 2016**

The cool, midnight breeze rushed through the lightly billowing curtains and caressed Sakura's bare shoulders. She snuggled deeper into the corner of the linen couch and covered her eyes from the light probing them. Splashes of colour consumed her face. Pinks, and blues, and purples, and reds. The voices coming from the television filled the room but they were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps on the other side of the apartment door.

The footsteps weren't quiet. They were loud and uneven, resembling the rhythm of a toddler walking for the first time. But it wasn't a toddler walking – toddler shoes haven't quite integrated the stiletto heel to their design. The steps were becoming louder and louder as they approached the door of the apartment but almost immediately, they were lighter and softer, as if the owner of the shoes was trying to sneak in.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to the sight of her papers scattered around the room. Sitting up straighter, her half-closed eyes met a red-faced Tomoyo.

"I can explain," Tomoyo said.

Tomoyo stumbled towards the couch, clutching the small black purse tightly in her hand. Now fully awake, Sakura was able to appreciate Tomoyo's current state of appearance. Her usual long, conservative dresses were replaced for a short, figure hugging dress. Not to mention her floral scent was completely masked by the alcohol seeping from her pores.

"I'm not an alcoholic if that's what you're thinking," she slurred. "I went to the club with a friend and I got a little bit carried away."

"Did you have fun?" Sakura asked.

"You're not mad at me?" Tomoyo hiccupped.

Sakura shook her head in response. "It would've been nice if you told me you were seeing someone but you don't need to sneak around my back."

"I'm not seeing anyone, silly. The club is the best place to meet people and have fun, if you know what I mean," said Tomoyo, breaking into a short burst of giggles. "You can come with me next time."

"I don't know..."

"I know you're not the type to go to clubs but you really, really should try, now that you're in Tokyo."

"I have met people," Sakura said.

"You know what I mean, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo wiggled her eyebrows and stood up abruptly, clutching the armrest for balance.

With rose-tinted cheeks, Sakura shuffled pass Tomoyo. "I'm going to sleep. Good night."

"Don't be embarrassed, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo yelled while following Sakura into her room. "I can introduce you to someone. He's really-" She bumped into Sakura who was barricading her bedroom door.

"I'm fine, don't worry about it." She grabbed Tomoyo by the shoulders and pushed her towards her own bedroom. "Now go to sleep. You have work in the morning too."

"You're seeing someone already, aren't you?" Tomoyo crossed her arms over her chest. "You're seeing that boy's dad and you didn't want to tell me. That's it, isn't it?"

"Tomoyo-chan, you're drunk. Go to sleep."

"It's true!" Her eyes flickered with excitement.

"No, it's not true!" Sakura laughed.

"Have you at least called him yet?"

"No."

"What are you waiting for then? Call him now." Tomoyo barged into Sakura's room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Tomoyo-chan," Sakura groaned. "I can't call him at this time. It's nearly 3am."

"I'm not moving until you call him."

Sakura sighed and sat down beside Tomoyo. "Will you go to your own bed if I call him tomorrow?"

Tomoyo straightened her back and narrowed her eyes at Sakura. "I'll go to my own bed if you ask him on a date tomorrow."

"Fine," Sakura said with a tight smile.

"Promise me." Tomoyo held up her pinkie.

Sakura interlocked her pinkie with Tomoyo with a bright smile on her face. After the promise was sealed, Tomoyo swung her legs off the bed and jumped up.

"I can see your smile Sakura-chan but let me tell you, I won't forget about this conversation tomorrow." Sakura's grin faded as she stared at the retreating body leaving her room.

* * *

Sakura slipped out of her room in the early hours of the morning. She tiptoed down the hallway, making sure she didn't make too much noise to wake up her now-hungover roommate. Rounding the corner, her eyes squinted at the sliver of light escaping underneath the bathroom door. Upon getting closer, she could hear heavy breathing.

"Good morning, sunshine." Sakura grinned at the heap hovering over the toilet.

"Go to hell." Tomoyo's hand flung her long, black locks behind her shoulders. After a few more coughs, she turned her head to look at Sakura. Her porcelain face was tainted with red blotches and dark circles underneath her eyes. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

Sakura grabbed the hair-tie sitting on the edge of the sink. "I'm going for a run." She gathered Tomoyo's hair and tied it into a messy bun. "Do you want to join me?"

"I'll have to pass on that one," she moaned, clutching her stomach. "Why are you running anyway?"

"I want to run in the annual Tokyo half-marathon next year but I need to start training now if I want to be able to finish it."

" _You're_ going to run a marathon?" Tomoyo asked, narrowing her eyes at the girl standing above her.

"It's a half-marathon," Sakura corrected, "and you can run it with me if you want."

Sakura looked at the girl on the floor, her face looking like the beginning of a laugh taking over. "Tomoyo-chan, where do you keep your camera?"

"It's on my desk, why?"

"Because this has got to be the worst you've looked since I met you," Sakura said as she sauntered out of the bathroom, slamming the door.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo yelled from within the confines of the bathroom. The bathroom door swung open with a dishevelled Tomoyo scrambling out of it. "If you slam one more door while I'm hungover then I'm going to cut your clothes while you're asleep."

Sakura turned around and crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at the absurdity of the threat.

"And," Tomoyo said, "don't think I forgot about the pinkie promise we made last night."

Sakura's jaw went slack. "I'm leaving." She spun around on her heel and placed her earphones in to drown out Tomoyo's laughter behind her.

"You can't break a pinkie promise, Sakura-chan!" She yelled loud enough to be heard over the music.

The elevator that had been broken since the day Sakura moved in still hadn't been fixed. Unfortunately for Tomoyo, this meant that she did have to face physical activity each day but for Sakura, it was merely another tool for her half-marathon training.

It was still dark outside by the time Sakura reached the ground floor. There were men and women in business suits going to work early to beat the morning traffic that would infest Tokyo in only a couple of hours.

The sun hung low as she jogged steadily along the concrete pavement. It was tough on her knees but there weren't exactly any big parks near the apartment. As her run progressed, the sun started to rise. It was the sign of a new day beginning. A new day meant different things for different people. It could be the day that they take the risk or the day where they continue their routine work. For Sakura, it signalled the day she had to ask Eriol out on a date and in that moment, she wished the sun would stay down.

Her legs started to feel heavy as she rounded the corner and a stab of pain throbbed just behind her knee. She hadn't run far – only 3km according to the fitness app on her mobile. It was a mere dent in the 21km she needed to be able to run by the following year. She came to a halt at a wooden bench and collapsed. Her hand immediately began to massage the back of her knee in small circles which elicited a sigh of relief from her mouth.

She winced as she stretched out her stiff legs, regretting not warming up beforehand. Sakura carefully stood up and returned to the apartment block with a slight limp in her step. At the slower pace, she was able to observe the people walking by her. There were old couples opening shop fronts and men in suits waiting for the bus to arrive. She jumped as a high school kid with bright red roller-skates whizzed past her. Her scolding was held back at the sight of the roller-skates. It had been a long time since she'd worn any.

The house was dark and quiet when she got home, with no hung-over Tomoyo in sight. Only the echoing silence accompanied her as she made her made to her room and got ready for the busy day ahead.

* * *

Chiharu sent a glare to Sakura who was tapping the pen in her hand to a staccato beat on the desk.

"Everyone should have a pencil and a blank piece of paper," Chiharu said, her eyes scanned across the classroom. "Haru-kun, give Mina-chan her pencil back, please."

Chiharu picked up a black whiteboard marker and began to write Hiragana characters on the board. "I want you to copy how I draw the strokes." She motioned to the board. "Start from the bottom and draw upwards."

The children copied Chiharu's directions to the best of their abilities. Sakura observed the different stylistic patterns the children were drawing as she made her way around the classroom. It was evident that some had already learnt the basics of Hiragana characters and others were just learning. There were messy and neat, fine and hard strokes amongst the children. There were also strokes that didn't resemble anything Chiharu had drawn on the board.

"Kinomoto-san," Chiharu said, trying to get Sakura's attention. Looking over, Sakura noticed Chiharu's head tilting towards the other side of the classroom, her eyes wide with apprehension.

Sakura glanced over in the direction of Chiharu's eyes and saw Hana giggling at the boy across from her. On closer inspection, Sakura recognised the mop of chestnut brown hair to belong to Ryuu.

"Ryuu-kun, you can't sleep at school," Hana said as she poked the side of his head with her finger.

"Quit poking me," Ryuu mumbled.

"Wake up Ryuu-kun, Kinomoto-sensei is coming," Yuta, the boy beside him, whispered.

Ryuu jerked back, straightening his back against the chair. The two children at his table stifled their giggles as Sakura approached. He picked up the closest pencil and began to copy down what Chiharu had written on the board.

"Ryuu-kun, your pencil is upside down." Sakura smiled at the boy's flushed face as his two classmates erupted with laughter.

"Stop laughing at me," he said as he flipped his pencil around.

"I don't think that's how you draw it…" Yuta said.

"Mihara-sensei says you start from the bottom," Hana added, leaning over the table to have a closer look.

"I know what I'm doing," Ryuu grumbled as he pushed Hana's head back.

"You're so cute when you're grumpy, Ryuu-kun," Hana said, giving him a toothy grin which caused Ryuu's face to flush 10 variations of red.

"Ryuu-kun, can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Amber eyes ridden with dark circles looked up at Sakura. "You're not in trouble, I promise."

The young boy followed her outside and they sat down on a steel bench near the playground where the children played during their breaks.

"I see you made friends with Hana-chan and Yuta-kun," Sakura said.

"They're not my friends." Ryuu let out a yawn and brought his hands up to cover his mouth. "I just sit at the same table as them."

"That's not what it looked like to me." Sakura raised an eyebrow at the young boy.

"Yuta-kun is my friend but not Hana-chan," he said, crossing his arms over his chest adamantly. "I don't wanna be friends with a girl."

Sakura tried contain her laugh. Her older brother had the same sentiments when he was Ryuu's age according to her father. All the girls would flock to him but he avoided them because they had 'girl cooties'. He eventually grew out of it – well, not entirely but at least he talks to girls now.

A squeal escaped Ryuu's mouth and his eyes were brimming with water.

"Ryuu-kun, did you go to bed late last night?" Sakura asked.

"No, why?"

"You seem very tired today. You were even sleeping in class before." Sakura pointed out to him.

"I wasn't sleeping," he argued, "I was just closing my eyes."

"Then why were you closing your eyes instead of doing the activity?" Sakura asked.

"Because." He paused, eyes darting around on anything but Sakura. "Because Hana-chan is ugly and I didn't wanna look at her."

His amber eyes were glued on the ground, ineffectively hiding his bright red face.

"That's not a nice thing to say to other people, Ryuu-kun. Saying things like that will hurt Hana-chan's feelings," Sakura said.

His eyes shot up quickly and then back down again. "I don't wanna hurt her feelings."

"Then make sure you don't say that to her." Ryuu nodded his head and let out another yawn.

"Now tell me why you're yawning so much today." Sakura folded her arms. "And don't lie to me this time, Ryuu-kun."

"Sometimes I have bad dreams and I can't sleep," he murmured just loud enough for Sakura to hear.

Her expression softened. "Dreams can be hard to talk about if they're scary or bad, but you will feel better if you talk about them."

"I wasn't scared," Ryuu said.

"Well, you know what my dad used to tell me when I had bad dreams?" Sakura asked, pitching an encouraging tone. "He would tell me to put bad dreams in the back of a drawer and tell them to stay there." She made the motions of putting a paper in a file and then sticking it into a file cabinet.

"Put it in a drawer and tell it to stay there." Ryuu repeated.

Sakura grinned at the boy. "Now you'll tell me if you keep having these bad dreams, right?"

Ryuu nodded and before he could speak, the front doors of the school rushed open with dozens of children running out.

"Ryuu-kun, come eat with us!" Hana-chan yelled from the other side of the playground. Standing next to her was Yuta-kun waving at Ryuu, beckoning him to come over.

"I told you that you would make friends." Sakura smiled and stood up, walking back to the classroom as Ryuu ran off to join his new friends.

A child as young as Ryuu sleeping in class raises some alarms. It's one thing for a teenager to be lacking sleep but the reasons are completely different for a first-grader. More often than not, it usually points towards problems at home. If anything, Sakura could use this as a conversation instigator with Eriol later that day.

Sakura entered the classroom and found Chiharu eating her lunch while reading a book.

"Did you find out what was wrong?" Chiharu asked, putting the book down.

"He told me that he has been having bad dreams and he can't sleep," Sakura replied as she sat down with her lunch.

Chiharu pondered at Sakura's response for a couple of seconds. "Maybe you should talk to his parents when they come to pick him up."

Sakura nodded in agreement. That had been her plan since last night.

Sakura was carrying a box containing an assortment of coloured paper from the stockroom. The plan was to use the paper in an activity the next day but Chiharu warned her to get it in advance before other teachers took all of it. It was nearly the end of the school day so there were a couple of parents hanging around outside of the classroom, waiting to pick up their children. Sakura recognised a few familiar faces but there were also other faces she hadn't seen before.

Turning around the corner to the hallway for her classroom, she heard heavy footsteps running up behind her.

"Kinomoto-san!" A man yelled, causing Sakura to turn her head sharply.

"Eriol-kun! It's nice to see you again." Eriol smiled at her and motioned her to follow him around the corner where the other parents couldn't hear their conversation.

"How have you been? I hope Ryuu hasn't given you much trouble."

"I've been fine, thank you. Uhm…" She lowered her eyes, avoiding his intense stare. "I've been meaning to talk to you about Ryuu-kun…" Her voice trailed off.

"Has there been a problem?" He asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"There have been a few problems with Ryuu-kun," she said, "I was wondering if you would like to discuss them over coffee." Sakura cringed internally at her poor excuse.

Realisation dawned over Eriol's face. "While I would love to have coffee with you Kinomoto-san, I would prefer to keep coffee separate from any problems pertaining to Ryuu."

Sakura nodded, her face tinting pink at her failed attempt.

"He fell asleep in class today and he told me that he has been having bad dreams, I was wondering if you knew about this?" Sakura explained.

"I'm well aware of his sleeping problems. We have been seeking out advice from doctors," he replied. "Is this the first time he has fallen asleep in class?"

"It's the first time I noticed."

Eriol nodded slowly, taking in the information. His forehead frowned, deep in thought for a second and then it all vanished away.

"So, about that coffee, how about we make it dinner?" He plastered a smile on his face. It wasn't so much a question than it was a statement.

A flush crept up on her face before she nodded enthusiastically.

"I have to take Ryuu to soccer practice now but text me your address and I'll pick you up at 7, okay?" He turned around, heading towards the classroom where children were walking out. "Wear something nice!" He yelled out, winking at her red cheeks.

Sakura grabbed her cell phone and sent a message to Tomoyo when he was out of sight.

_I did it!_

_You are going to help me get ready._

* * *

"Tomoyo-chan, get that camcorder out of my face," Sakura said as she walked through the door of their apartment. She arrived home and was greeted with the lens of Tomoyo's new camcorder.

"Don't say that!" Tomoyo cried out as Sakura pushed the camcorder away. "I just want to capture your first date in Tokyo, is that so bad?" She followed Sakura into her room like a puppy following its new owner.

"Yes, it's actually quite creepy," she said as she shuffled through the dresses in her closet. Ignoring her, Tomoyo continued to film.

"None of your clothes are going to work. Come to my closet," Tomoyo said, dragging the other girl across the hall.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" She frowned.

"Well–" Tomoyo's eyes dropped down to the plain blouse and black slacks Sakura was wearing.

"Don't answer that." Sakura shook her head and picked out the short, navy-blue dress in Tomoyo's closet.

"That one is pretty," Tomoyo said as she held it up on the hanger in front of Sakura. "But it's too catholic school girl with this collar."

Tomoyo picked up another navy-blue dress with polka dots and held it in front of Sakura. "This one has a diamond cut right above the chest and an inbuilt choker which is the trend these days." Tomoyo explained. "I think this is what you'd want. It's not too short but it's not too long either so it'll still show off your legs."

"Okay. What should I do with my hair?" Sakura asked as she started to take the dress off the hanger.

Tomoyo reached over and held a strand of Sakura's hair between her fingers. "You should think about getting it cut but I can braid it for you after you get changed." She picked up the camcorder and pointed it towards Sakura.

"Tomoyo-chan, you are _not_ going to film me getting changed." Sakura glared at Tomoyo, warning her to get out.

"Okay, okay. I'll go wait in the lounge room." Tomoyo walked out and shut the door behind her.

With her braid in place and the dress fitting nicely, Tomoyo filmed over Sakura's shoulder while she put makeup on in the mirror. A light knock interrupted Tomoyo's explanation about the difference between contouring and highlighting. Sakura wasn't the most adept at makeup, or fashion for that matter.

"I'll answer it!" Tomoyo raced out of the bathroom to the front door. "You must be Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo said with the camcorder in his face.

Eriol cracked an unsure smile. "And you aren't Kinomoto-san."

"She won't be too long." Tomoyo's eyes and camcorder scanned down the length of Eriol. He was wearing a grey suit with a white undershirt and a simple black tie. "A three-piece Burberry. I'm impressed."

"You have a good eye," he said.

"A blue tie would've suited you better," she said with a sweet smile.

Before Eriol could reply, Sakura came running down the hallway. "Sorry to keep you waiting!" Her cheeks were tinted pink when she saw Eriol. "You look nice," she said with a small voice.

His lips curved into a big smile at the sight of Sakura. "You look beautiful, Kinomoto-san."

Tomoyo's camcorder was bouncing back and forth between Sakura and Eriol like she was following a ball on a tennis court. She squealed after Eriol's compliment which earned her a glare from Sakura.

"Okay, let's leave before Tomoyo-chan follows us," Sakura muttered, rushing out the door.

Once they were out the door, Eriol slipped his hand into Sakura.

"What's with the camcorder?" He asked, trying to break the silence between them.

Sakura found herself smiling at the question. "She's a little weird but I love her for it."

* * *

Sakura and Eriol arrived at an upscale restaurant, by Sakura's standard, in downtown Tokyo. It was a Friday night so there were a lot people walking around trying to find a place to eat at. Luckily for them, they had reservations.

Eriol walked around and opened the car door for Sakura. "I hope you like French cuisine." He scratched the back of head. "I wasn't too sure what you'd like but-"

"I'm sure it'll be great." Sakura gave him a pleasant smile. He grasped her hand and lead her up the stairs to the restaurant.

A man in a tuxedo was waiting at the entrance. Recognition spread across his face when he saw Eriol. "Ah, Hiiragizawa-san, we've been expecting you. Just this way, please."

There were couples and families quietly chatting throughout the restaurant. More than half of them were foreigners and older men who appeared to be having serious conversations. There were girls walking around in tight dresses and small skirts, their hungry eyes glued on Eriol. Eriol tightened his hold on Sakura's hand.

"Is everything okay?"

"I feel a bit under-dressed." She admitted.

"You look beautiful, don't worry about everyone else." He reassured her with a squeeze.

Eriol stepped forth to pull out the chair for Sakura before the waiter could. Their table was at the back of the restaurant, right next to a large window. The view out of the window wasn't anything amazing but she could see the whole of downtown Tokyo. The waiter placed two menus in front of them.

"I'll start you off with the Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre, Hiiragizawa-san."

"Thank you," Eriol said as he opened the menu in front of him.

Sakura's eyes were scanning the restaurant frantically. Eriol reached across the table and took her hand into his. "Maybe I should've taken you somewhere else." He grinned at her obvious discomfort.

"It's fine but." She paused, licking her bottom lip. "I've never eaten at a restaurant this… extravagant."

"Yeah, I noticed." He laughed. "Let me order for you then. You'll like it."

Eriol muttered off their orders with a fluid French accent. The waiter from earlier returned with a bottle of wine which he poured into both of their glasses.

Sakura's face scrunched after her first sip of wine. She wasn't a big fan of wine, nor was she an expert but it tasted expensive.

Eriol put down his glass and clasped his hands. "I'd like to thank you for your concern about Ryuu. It's nice to know that there is someone looking out for him at school."

"It's okay, it's my job after all," Sakura said with a small smile, "though, he is quite shy and stubborn which surprises me considering how you are-"

Eriol choked on the wine and quickly grabbed a napkin off the table before bursting into laughter.

"Did I say something funny?" Sakura asked, tilting her head at his reaction.

"No no no." Eriol waved his hands in front of him while laughing. "Ryuu is shy and stubborn. He gets that from his dad." He closed his eyes trying to stop his laugh. "But I am not, by any means, Ryuu's father."

"So… you're his guardian?" Sakura asked, seeking clarification.

"I'm his babysitter from time to time. Ryuu's father travels a lot for business so he stays with me," Eriol said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I thought you would've noticed from our different last names."

"I guess I didn't." Sakura giggled at the confusion.

The waiter came back with two different dishes but Sakura couldn't exactly pinpoint what was on her plate. The food was garnished and decorated so much that the decorations themselves took up half the plate.

Sakura took a hesitant bite of the food and her face lit up after a few chews. "It's delicious." Eriol smiled at her reaction.

"How long have you lived in Tokyo for?" Eriol asked after a couple of bites of his own food.

"I've been here for a bit less than a month I think." Sakura pondered. "I grew up in a small town called Tomoeda but I moved here for my job at the primary school."

"You've always wanted to be a teacher?" he inquired further.

"Not really. I never really knew what I wanted to do." She wistfully looked out the window, as if it held her answer. "But I'm enjoying it. The children are lovely."

"Well if Ryuu is anything like his father around new people then I can't imagine him to be too lovely." Eriol chuckled.

"If you don't mind me asking but," Sakura paused, looking up to see Eriol's nod of encouragement. "How can you afford all of this as a babysitter?" She gestured around the restaurant.

"Babysitting is more of a side job. Actually, it's not really a job because I don't get paid for it. I'm a director on some of the boards for companies across Europe and Asia."

"Does that mean you travel a lot?" Sakura asked.

"Not exactly. There are two types of directors and the one that I am doesn't require me to be there for day-to-day business. I only travel if they need me at a board meeting." He clarified.

Sakura nodded, processing the information. They continued to have a pleasant conversation. She learnt that he grew up England but moved to Japan due to the demands of his job. He learnt that she had never travelled outside of Japan and could speak broken English. Sakura drank another two glasses of the expensive wine at the encouragement of Eriol. On the other hand, Eriol didn't have any more as he was the designated driver for the rest of the evening.

Eriol helped Sakura up the stairs at her apartment block. They bumped shoulders as they made their way down the hallway to the door of her apartment. Sakura was holding her heels in her hand after the long night she had wearing them. She didn't walk around a lot but to her, it was the equivalent to running a marathon. She was certain that she had blisters covering the soles of her feet. It was all Tomoyo's fault too. She wouldn't have even worn them if it wasn't for Tomoyo's persistent whining.

The pair were laughing at some office pranks that Eriol played on his cousin.

"He's a workaholic so we hooked up a wireless mouse to his computer and controlled it from another room," he said, "we could see him holding it up in the air wondering what the hell was up then he came out of his office and stole a laptop from his secretary."

"You're really cruel, Eriol-kun." Sakura laughed, slapping him lightly on the arm.

They came to a stop outside Sakura's apartment door and turned around to face each other.

"I had a really nice time tonight, Eriol-kun. Thank you for everything," Sakura said.

The smirk on Eriol's face vanished, and a smile touched his eyes. He reached out, taking her hand, and pulled her into his body. He wrapped his arms around Sakura and brought his lips down to hers. He softly kissed her, brushing his lips over hers. It was a tease. He was kissing her with a promise of something more. Sakura's hands gripped the front of his suit. All too soon, he removed his lips from hers.

"I had a lovely evening too, Sakura-san," he said, a husky inflection to his voice. "I hope we can do it again sometime. Good night." He gave her hands a light kiss.

Sakura walked through the apartment in a daze. Tomoyo was sprawled out on the couch watching a popular drama. At the sight of Sakura, she jumped up and switched on the camcorder again, which seemed to be conveniently within her reach all the time.

"Omigosh, you kissed him!" Tomoyo squealed.

"How do you know that?" Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, I know I've only known you for less than a month but even I know that your lips aren't naturally swollen."

Sakura quickly covered her mouth with her hands and ran away before the crazed camera woman could interrogate her further.

* * *

**Hong Kong**

"Welcome home, Mr Li." The housekeeper bowed. "Mrs Li was not expecting anyone today."

"I don't need to make an appointment to see my own mother now tell me, where is she?" Syaoran asked, not making eye-contact with the woman.

"This way, please follow me Mr Li." Her eyes were still glued to the ground, not daring to look at the man.

She scurried along the long hallways that were decorated with portraits of previous Li men. Red and gold adorned the rooms and crystal chandeliers hung from high ceilings. It was a home fit for royalty. Some would even argue that the Li family was royalty in China. The housekeeper came to a halt outside a room which Syaoran recognised to be his mother's office.

"Mrs Li, you have a visitor." If there was any other sound in the house, the housekeeper's voice wouldn't have been heard. Her head was still down as she addressed the woman in the other room.

An elderly woman's voice could be heard coming from within the room. "Tell them I'm not here then, Jinghua. You already know the protocol when it comes to people without appointments. I can't believe I have to tell you this again."

Syaoran placed a large hand on the mahogany door and pushed it wider so he could see the woman in the other room.

"Xiao Lang." the woman gasped. She stood up immediately and rushed over to where her son was. She opened her arms to embrace him which he returned, albeit reluctant. "Where is my grandson?" she asked, looking behind him.

"In Japan." He stepped around her and made his way to the glass platter of alcoholic beverages. He started to pour himself a glass of scotch.

"Why didn't you tell me you were back in Hong Kong?" His mother asked, her voice laced with hurt.

"I'm here for business," he stated as a matter-of-fact. "Your other child managed to stuff things up, so here I am." He gulped down the scotch straight.

His mother scoffed, "If you lived here instead of Japan, you wouldn't need to leave Ryuu alone to fix up your sister's mess."

"Don't start on this again, mother." His grip tightened around the glass.

"I don't understand why you want to stay in Japan. Kimi is gone and she won't be coming back so there's no reason for you to stay there."

He tasted blood from his freshly bitten cheek. He took a deep breath to stop himself from smashing the glass against the wall. "I have to handle the company in Japan, mother."

"I know well enough that you can easily hire someone else to manage the company in Japan," his mother quipped. "Hell, you can send Fuutie there for all I care. I want my grandson to grow up in China because that's where he belongs. That's where _you_ belong."

"Kimi and I planned to raise him in Japan. So, that's where he will stay," he spat out.

His mother rolled her eyes at the mention of Kimi's name. "Xiao Lang, Kimi has been gone for nearly 8 years now. It's time for you to think of what's best for you and Ryuu."

"Keeping Ryuu away from you is the best thing I can think of for him. God forbid you treat him how you treated Kimi. Thank you for your wise and much-needed words, mother" he muttered.

"Don't you dare use that tone with me, Xiao Lang." His mother gave him an icy glare.

"I knew it was a mistake coming here," he whispered to himself. "I'll see myself out." He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against. On the way to the entrance he pulled out his mobile and called home.

"Hello, Mei speaking," the resident maid of his hotel answered. He had been expecting to hear Eriol since it was late and Mei should've left by now. "Hello?"

"Mei, is Eriol-kun there?" Syaoran asked.

Syaoran could hear Ryuu laughing in the background. "Uhm, no. He asked me to watch Ryuu tonight."

"Was he called into a meeting?" Syaoran inquired, stopping at a table that held several photo frames of him and his sisters.

"No. I believe he had a date tonight," she confessed.

"Does he always ask you to watch Ryuu when he goes on dates?" Syaoran probed further.

"This is the first time." More boyish giggles could be heard on the other side of the phone.

Syaoran sighed. He knew Eriol sacrificed a lot to take care of Ryuu while he travelled for his company. There was no point in getting mad or upset about the whole ordeal. He was rather surprised that this was the first time it had happened. He picked up a white photo-frame that held a picture from his wedding day. He traced his finger around Kimi's face.

 _Everything would be so much easier if you were here_.

"Would you like to talk to Ryuu?" She asked, interrupting his thoughts. He heard another loud laugh again.

Syaoran smiled softly at the sound of Ryuu's laugh. "I'm heading into a meeting right now, sorry."

"Are you sure?" Mei asked again. Syaoran could hear light footsteps coming down the hallway behind him.

"Yep. Good night, Mei." He hung up the phone and placed the photo frame face down before turning towards the large doors.

A rush of air hit him as he exited the mansion. It was cool and crisp. He looked towards the sky in disdain. It was clear tonight. A vast space of nothingness. No stars. No moon. Not even the lights of a plane. It reminded him of himself. He was nothing more than a blank face. His eyes no longer expressed excitement. There were no more flickers of hope. The emptiness of the sky was how he felt deep down inside. And it was slowly killing him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm conscious of the fact that some of the characters are OOC but I'm justifying it on the notion that they are a lot older here than they are in the anime. I'd love to hear what you think about the characters/relationships so far.


	5. Big City, Small World

**October 2016**

A jarring, buzzing noise filled Sakura's bedroom. It was coming out of the metal device that was rattling on her bedside table and unfortunately for Sakura, it wasn't stopping anytime soon. After a few moments of silence, it started buzzing again. Sakura shifted in her bed, grumbling at the foreign sound.

As she pulled the purple quilt up to cover her ears, she felt a warm and hard body pressing against her back. Memories from last night flooded her mind.

Eriol, who she has been dating for nearly a month and a half now, surprised her after work with a bouquet of red roses. They weren't her favourite flower but it's the thought that counts. He gave her 20 minutes to get ready before he took her on a special date to one of the most famous restaurants in Tokyo. Since her first date, she had gotten used to eating at the fancy restaurants that Eriol was so accustomed to. She could at least order for herself now which was a proud feat by her standards.

The whole evening seemed too good to be true but then after dessert, he finally broke the bad news – he had to leave for Europe the next day. As it approached the end of the year, he was required to travel to several meetings for companies who were in the midst of evaluating their yearly figures. Sakura reacted as any other girlfriend would: upset but understanding. He had mentioned travelling for meetings in their first date so it was expected. The worst part of the whole ordeal was that he didn't know how long he'd be. It could be for three months or three days. Sakura desperately hoped for the latter.

"I'm going to miss you," she whispered, her eyes half-closed as she watched Eriol put last night's clothes back on.

He chewed his bottom lip before breaking into a smile. He kissed her cheek once before making his way down to her jawline. Sakura's head tipped back, allowing him to trail his mouth down her neck. His lips were warm and soft as they pressed on her skin.

"Me too," he whispered back, kissing the hollow part on the left side of her neck.

"How long will you be gone for?" Sakura asked, biting her lip to suppress her moan.

"I'm not sure," he answered, leaning over to give attention to the other side of her neck.

His hand moved away from the position it had been in next to her pillow and moved to pull the sheets down that were covering her body. Sakura squirmed and pushed him away with a light tap.

"You're going to be late for your flight," she giggled at the frown overtaking his features.

Reluctantly, he got off her bed and continued to straighten his shirt that got wrinkled during last night's activities. His eyes left the wall-length mirror as he fixed his cufflinks.

"Don't forget that Ryuu's _real_ father will be picking him up today," he said as he tugged the sleeve around to keep it in place. There had been an ongoing joke between them that Eriol was Ryuu's father ever since the confusion during their first date.

"Mh-mmm."

"Please be nice to him, he's a bit–"

"Cold. Distant. Rude. Completely lacking in human emotions," Sakura said, laughing at his obvious distress. "You've been warning me about him ever since you told me you were leaving."

Eriol sat on the edge of the bed, next to where her feet were. "I know. I'm just worried for Ryuu." He frowned at his shoes as he put them on. "He tends to forget about matters concerning Ryuu."

Sakura pursed her lips, touched at Eriol's concern for Ryuu. She sat up, clutching the sheets to her chest and leaned over to squeeze his wrist. "I'll keep an eye on both of them for you."

He placed his hand over hers and looked at her with a grin. "Thank you," he said softly.

Eriol stood up and leaned down to her forehead, giving it a light kiss. "I'll send you a message when I land in Stockholm. You can go back to sleep now, it's still early for you."

Sakura watched him tiptoe out of her room and quietly shut the door. She turned flat on her back and stared at the ceiling. Her 2-month anniversary of moving to Tokyo was coming and she had already been so lucky. She had a stable job which she was loving, an awesome roommate, and now, a loving and caring boyfriend. This is exactly what most girls dream of when they reach their mid-20s. The mere thought of her life-now compared to her life back in Tomoeda gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach. She didn't want anything to change.

Sakura's eyebrows knitted together at the sound of Tomoyo's laugh echoing down the hallway. It was a soft laugh but she could pinpoint it in a crowd of a thousand people because of how unique it was. It carried throughout the apartment. Sakura glanced at her alarm clock that read 5:00AM which confused her further. Tomoyo was never awake this early unless she was coming home from a night-out. The laughter was getting closer and closer to Sakura's bedroom door which meant only one thing – an interrogation by Tomoyo. With reality dawning in on her, Sakura pulled up the sheets to cover her face and shut her eyes tight. It wasn't even a minute later when the door swung open and a mixture of floral scented perfume and coffee wafted into her room.

"Sakura-chan, you naughty girl," Tomoyo chided with an amused tone. "If you warned me beforehand, I could've stayed at a friend's house to give you two some… privacy."

Tomoyo giggled at her own antics as she took a seat on the edge of the bed where Eriol had been just a few minutes ago. Sakura stayed still as a statue, hoping the other girl would notice and leave. But Tomoyo wasn't oblivious.

She took a sip of the coffee in her hand and then she reached over to pull the sheets down. The moment the cool air hit Sakura's skin, she let out a squeal before pulling the sheets back up. Tomoyo's eyes widened but quickly went back to normal. To say the least, she had a lot more success than Eriol did with pulling down the sheets.

"Don't be embarrassed, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo giggled. "You don't have anything I haven't seen before. I tailor clothes for a living, remember?"

"I know," Sakura groaned, her head peeked from behind the sheets to look at Tomoyo. "Why are you awake?"

"Maybe if you two were a bit quieter, I could've slept more." Sakura threw a pillow at Tomoyo which bounced off her arm and fell to the floor. "I'm kidding!"

"Answer my question," Sakura said.

"I have to leave earlier today so I can work on the last-minute Halloween alterations," Tomoyo replied, taking another sip of her coffee. "My boss said if I do well this week, he might take a look at my designs for the winter collection," she said it offhandedly, but her whole face lit up at the mention of her own designs.

Tomoyo had been working at this dress shop for almost two years now and they had looked at her creations only a handful of times. Most of the time, the other employees left all the alterations and tailoring work to her. It was good practice but she didn't want to do that for the rest of her life. Her dream would be to have her own dress shop. It was still a distant dream though.

"That's so exciting!" Sakura's grin couldn't get any bigger. For the past few weeks, she had seen Tomoyo working non-stop trying to fix up the pieces for her own collection. She had even called Sakura in to model a few of the items. It was all coming together now.

"It's all thanks to you, Sakura-chan. You're my new muse." She winked and chugged the last of her coffee. "I have to go now or I'll be late. I left the cat ears and tail on the kitchen bench for you."

"Thank you, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura murmured. The second Sakura uttered the words _Halloween_ and _costume_ , Tomoyo had literally jumped at the opportunity.

"I still think you should go as a magical girl instead," Tomoyo said. "I had so many brilliant ideas for you but you chose to go as a cat." Her long, black hair swayed as she shook her head disapprovingly.

Once she heard the front door slam closed, Sakura stretched out her limbs and hopped out of bed. Halloween fell on the weekend this year so the school was allowing the children to dress up on the Friday before instead. This meant Sakura had to dress up as well and despite all of Tomoyo's protests, her costume had to be school-appropriate. Meaning she couldn't wear the short, magical girl costume that Tomoyo had in the back of her closet. Sakura opted to go as a cat. It was simple enough to organise and recognise. There was nothing worse than people not recognising a costume and having to explain it over a hundred times.

Sakura entered the kitchen and found the black ears and tail, as requested, along with another item under a Post-It note.

_Send me a picture with the collar on!_

_Xo Tomoyo_.

She peeled the Post-It note off the collar. It was a modified choker with some jewels glued on and a name tag weaved in the middle. Upon closer inspection, Sakura could make out writing engraved into the small piece of metal:

_Sakura_

_If lost, please return to Tomoyo._

She blinked a whole bunch of times before her mouth twitched at what Tomoyo had done. It was bound to get questions from her colleagues if they ever got close enough to read it. The font was tiny. There was no way she could disappoint Tomoyo and not wear it. It was evident that Tomoyo had put a lot of effort into making it.

After putting on the cat part of her costume, she quickly drew on whiskers with a liquid eyeliner and grabbed the candy she had bought to share with the students. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many people out on the streets yet. Most people don't get dressed up until after work, yet alone get dressed to go to work.

* * *

Syaoran stood in the kitchen with his mobile pressed against his ear, his eyes impatiently watching the minute-hand tick around his silver watch. He tapped his foot on the tiled floor as he listened to the person on the other side of the phone.

"If he wants to have dinner then organise a dinner for tonight," he answered into the phone. "I don't care what restaurant, just book one close to the hotel."

He glanced at his watch again and covered the microphone part of his phone. "Ryuu, hurry up! We're leaving in negative 5 minutes!"

"I'm coming!" he hollered back from his bedroom where he was getting ready.

The small boy came running out, his chestnut brown hair looked like it hadn't been brushed for a week. His clothes: completely mismatched and he had one shoe on his foot and the other one in his hands.

Syaoran looked down at him, his forehead creasing at the sight. "Did you brush your hair?"

"No." His innocent, amber eyes made it seem that he was incapable of doing anything wrong.

"Doesn't matter, we don't have time. Let's go. You can put your other shoe on in the car." Syaoran sighed, exasperated. It was the first day without Eriol and he was already losing his patience.

The car ride to school was completely silent except for the hum of the car engine. Not even the morning radio was playing. At one point, Ryuu reached over from the backseat to turn the music on but it was immediately shut down by a slap from Syaoran's hand who muttered that he had a headache and it was too early to listen to music.

For the rest of the car ride, Syaoran's phone rang nonstop but he refrained himself from answering. If Ryuu hadn't been in the car, he definitely would've been talking and driving using the Bluetooth system in his car. He couldn't though, after all Eriol said he needed to spend more time with Ryuu which included driving him to school. Syaoran had been entertaining the idea of a driver for Ryuu but Eriol frowned at the suggestion. Apparently, making Syaoran's life easier wasn't a concern to Eriol.

The car slowed down to a halt outside the front of the school. The instant the car was in park mode, Syaoran reached for his phone and started to read through the missed messages and emails. Ryuu, who sat in the backseat, looked up expectantly. Their eyes met in the rear-view mirror.

"Well, go on then," he said, nodding his head in the direction of the school.

"Eriol-kun walks me in…" Ryuu replied, his voice trailing off.

"I don't have time for that Ryuu. I'm already late as it is," he said, almost annoyed.

Ryuu nodded and slipped out of the car. He didn't bother to say goodbye because his father's attention had been rapt on his phone screen. Once the door slammed shut, Syaoran sped off without even waving in Ryuu's direction.

On the walk to his classroom, Ryuu kept his eyes glued to the floor. His front teeth latched onto his bottom lip to stop it from quivering. The closer he got to his classroom, the more his lips began to quiver. It wasn't cold that morning.

"Ryuu-kun!" Hana yelled from the opposite side of the classroom. He looked up, searching for the source of the voice. It didn't take long to spot Hana. She was wearing two big, round ears on top of her head and a bright red and black dress with white polka dots. "Why aren't you wearing your costume?" she asked, tilting her head at Ryuu's outfit.

"I didn't wanna wear a dumb costume," he mumbled as he pushed past her to their table.

Hana pouted at that response. He had been secretive about his costume leading up to today and now he turned up with no costume at all. She followed him to their table, her curls bouncing lightly on her shoulders.

Ryuu's eyes were glued on the book he got off the shelf when she reached the table. She tapped him on the shoulder but he didn't move or look at her. After a few more seconds of him ignoring her, she carefully took off her headband and placed it on his head.

"Now you have a costume, Ryuu-kun," she said softly before returning to her seat on the other side of the table.

Ryuu's hand reached for the headband she slipped on his head. His fingers traced the shape of the two big circles that were made with a soft felt material. His face reddened when he saw Hana's smile. She was ecstatic that he hadn't pulled the headband off yet.

"Ehh, I didn't know you two were dressing up as Mickey and Minnie mouse. I could've gone as their dog Pluto," Yuta said as he came near the table. Both Hana and Ryuu looked in the direction of the voice and were met with Yuta's space outfit, complete with a purple cap over his black hair.

"What are you meant to be?" Hana asked, picking at the fabric of his outfit which he quickly pulled out of her reach.

Yuta frowned at her question. "I'm Buzz Lightyear, can't you tell?" he asked, spinning around on the spot.

"Who's that?" Hana asked.

"From Toy Story," he added which was met with another blank stare. "I can't believe you haven't watched–"

The conversation was cut short by Chiharu. "Please sit down, we'll begin the first activity shortly."

Chiharu motioned to Sakura to begin handing out the pieces of paper. In the classroom, Sakura could be found in two places – at the teacher's desk or walking around, observing the students. Chiharu did all of the teaching. The main point of having Sakura there was to help control the children who could, at times, get a bit rowdy.

"Today, we will draw our families wearing their Halloween costumes," she announced to the class. The response was instant chatter amongst the children. They always liked to do fun activities such as drawing, colouring in, or playing games.

As Chiharu tried to calm the children down and explain some of the questions they had, Sakura's attention had been on the various costumes that the children had on. There were princesses, fairies, pirates and ninjas – there was even a student who also dressed up as a cat. As she came around to the back of the classroom, she frowned at Ryuu who clearly did not have a costume on like the rest of his classmates.

"What do we have here? Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Buzz Lightyear?" Sakura asked the three children.

"See, she knows who I am," Yuta sneered at Hana who replied by poking her tongue out.

"Where are your ears, Minnie?" Sakura asked, keeping an eye on Ryuu to see his reaction.

"I left them at home," Hana replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Ryuu's eyes darted up at her response before looking back down at the piece of paper in front of him.

Sakura's face softened at the close friendship the three children had already formed. They'd only met each other a couple of weeks ago and here they were, sharing costume pieces and lying through their teeth to save Ryuu the embarrassment of not having a costume.

"We'll have to make sure we get a photo of Mickey and Minnie together then," Sakura said, forcing a smile. She continued to hand out paper to the remainder of the children but this time, her whole expression was hard. It was the first day without Eriol and Ryuu's father had already forgotten about the school's Halloween event. He had to have known about it – Eriol wouldn't shut up about how excited Ryuu had been to dress up as a character from Pokémon. Sakura's heart broke at the thought of how Ryuu must've been feeling as the only kid in the class without a costume.

The time Sakura spent behind the desk was short lived. Chiharu came over after she finished explaining the activity.

"Take a look at what they're drawing, I'll be back in a bit," she said before running out of the room.

It was a good sign if the kids were loud and chatty. It meant they were enjoying themselves which was the whole point of the day. They had several activities lined up for the Halloween event, including eating lots of candy. Luckily for Sakura and Chiharu, it only happened once a year. The effect candy had on young children was a force to be reckoned with, which they hoped would wear off before the end of the day.

Sakura peered over the shoulders of the students as they completed their drawings. She couldn't even tell what half of the costumes they drew were meant to be but she admired their effort. Sakura wouldn't have been any better anyway. Some were even drawing their pets – at least, that's what it looked like.

She found herself near Ryuu's table at the back of the classroom again. This was the only picture she really wanted to see. Children often told a lot more in pictures than they could with words. It had the potential to explain so many questions that were running through her head. First and foremost – where on earth was his mother during all of this? Eriol hadn't mentioned a mother at all and she hadn't met one in the whole time she had been working there.

Sakura stopped to look at Hana's picture which only contained two colours: pink and purple.

"How many sisters do you have, Hana?" Sakura asked.

"Huh?" The young girl scrunched her face up at the question. "I don't have sisters. These are my brothers." She pointed to the three figures that were wearing pink dresses.

"Boys don't wear dresses, Hana-chan!" Yuta laughed at her drawing.

She stuck her nose in the air. "I can draw what I want." She pointedly leaned over the table to pick up the silver glitter pen.

Ryuu sat in silence as his two classmates bickered back and forth on what boys are "meant" to wear. Sakura tilted her head a bit, trying to catch a glimpse of Ryuu's drawing who was trying his best to cover it up.

"Can I see your drawing, Ryuu?" Sakura asked.

The boy reluctantly took his hands off it and his expression hardened as his two classmates peered over to look at it. There were only two figures on the page. One which was obviously Ryuu due to the size and the Mickey mouse ears he was wearing. The other figure was an adult man in what appeared to be a suit. There was a sad face on Ryuu and a frown on the older man's face who was holding a phone to his ear. Though, the most shocking thing about the whole drawing was the distinct, hard line down the middle, splitting them apart.

"Where's your mum?" Yuta blurted out almost immediately.

"My mum died." His sweet, innocent face went completely blank but Sakura wasn't a fool. His eyes said everything that she needed to know. They were clouded with sadness.

"Why is there a line in the middle?" Hana asked, almost unaffected by the mention of his dead mother.

"I never see my dad," he replied. Before he could say anything further or they could ask any more questions, Sakura placed her hands on his small shoulders.

"Let's go outside for a minute, Ryuu," she said with a tight smile, not wanting to worry his classmates. Sakura grabbed a spare piece of paper and pen and brought it out with her. As they sat on the bench outside, she quickly drew up her family and showed it to him.

There was a girl and two older men.

"My mum died too," Sakura said softly. "I don't remember her very well because it happened when I was really young." Ryuu's eyes fluttered up to meet hers. "But my dad told me lots stories about her so I know in my heart that she was an amazing person."

"My dad never talks about her," he whispered and if it were possible – Sakura felt her heart shatter to pieces. Her hatred was increasing by the minute for a man she hadn't even met. How on earth could anyone treat a child like this – yet alone, their own child?

"I'm sure he will tell you one day," she said as soothingly as she could manage. In reality, she had no idea if his father would tell him and from what she had observed so far, her expectations of Ryuu's father were extremely low. "Ryuu, can I keep your drawing?" He simply nodded and returned to the classroom.

Sakura placed Ryuu's drawing on the teacher's desk, next to the computer. Chiharu's usual smile disappeared the second she saw it.

"Who drew that one?" she asked, chewing on a piece of candy one of the students had given to her.

"Ryuu," Sakura replied, sadness lilting her voice.

"Not a good sign," Chiharu said, shaking her head. "I'd stay behind to talk to him but I really have to leave early for dinner with my fiancé."

Sakura's eyes widened at the news.

"Do you think you can stay behind and clean up? I'm really sorry but we're meeting with his parents and–"

"Of course, it's fine," Sakura said. "I don't have anywhere to be. Eriol left this morning."

"You're a life-saver, Sakura-chan. I owe you big time," she mumbled into Sakura's shoulder as she squeezed her into a hug.

Chiharu gave Sakura a rundown on how to organise the classroom. The room was especially messy today due to the Halloween event. There were feathers that had fallen off costumes, glitter smeared all over the chairs and candy wrappers covering the floor. Sakura gladly chewed on the lollies that hadn't been opened.

The school didn't have a cleaner for the classrooms which was why it was left to the teachers. In the older grades, the students were expected to take care of the classroom before and after classes but not for first-graders. It was a safety measure considering how the vacuum was nearly bigger than most of the students.

After she finished straightening the last of the tables, she picked up her bag from the desk where Ryuu's drawing was. A muscle in her cheek twitched at the sight of the sad face Ryuu had drawn on himself. It conveyed so much on how the boy felt. Neither Chiharu nor Sakura had met Ryuu's father and considering he was back now, they thought he would've stopped by after class to introduce himself. That didn't happen and Sakura could now see why.

Sakura flicked off the light switch and exited the classroom. As she turned around to lock the door, she caught a glimpse of a red backpack in the corner of her eye. Next to the backpack was a small boy hugging his legs to his body. Sakura squinted her eyes as she made her way towards the boy. As she got closer, she recognised the chestnut brown hair and for the third time that day, her heart sank.

"Ryuu?" she asked, hesitantly, trying to get his attention. He lifted his head from his knees and looked at her, his eyes brimming with water. "Oh, Ryuu." Her shoes clicked on the tiled floor as she closed the distance between them. When she reached where he was sitting, she crouched down to his eye level.

"He forgot?" Ryuu nodded at her question, biting his lip hard. Sakura's hand reached out and stroked his hair before cupping his back and drawing him into a hug. "It's okay, I'm sure something important came up," she whispered.

"More important than me?" his voice cracked as tears began to roll down his cheeks. Sakura let out a deep breath, trying to control her own emotions. She had no reply to that. There was nothing she could say to comfort a child whose own father had forgotten about him.

With one hand wrapped around Ryuu's backpack and another one clutching his small fist, Sakura lead him back into the classroom. The tears had stopped after she gave him a candy bar but it was clear that they could return at any time. He was in an extremely vulnerable predicament.

She let him sit in the teacher's chair and put on a kid-friendly movie on the computer while she retrieved the emergency contacts for him. Sakura's fingers were shaking as she flipped through the directory. A few pages in, she found Ryuu Li. In that moment, her mind drifted back to her first date with Eriol where he cleared the air about his relation to Ryuu. Li and Hiiragizawa were very different names, indeed.

There were only two numbers listed as his emergency contacts. She recognised one to belong to Eriol so the valid assumption was that the second number belonged to his father. Sakura went into the corridor outside of the classroom to make the phone call, not wanting to distract Ryuu from the movie. The darkness in the corridor alerted her to how late it really was – Ryuu should've been picked up 3 hours ago. After a couple of rings, she reached the voicemail. A male voice filled her ears. It was sharp and cool with no warmth at all.

 _I'm busy. Leave a message or contact my secretary_.

Sakura paled at the message. The directory didn't contain a number for a secretary and she had no idea where he worked. She couldn't call Eriol since he would've been in another country by now so there was no way he could help. Pushing the door open, she glanced through the gap to see Ryuu's small face engrossed in what was on the screen. She clenched her fists and dialled the number again. He didn't deserve this. No child deserved this. She dialled again, and again, and again. Each time, she was redirected to his voicemail. She only stopped when his voicemail reached its limit.

Chiharu hadn't informed her of any protocol when it came to a child left behind at school. Was she meant to take the child to her own house or was it better to call the police? Sakura slid down against the corridor wall, covering her face with her hands. Her eyes blinked away the tears that were flowing freely down her face. She cried at her inability to help Ryuu. She cried for the boy who had a father who forgot to get him a costume. She cried for the same boy whose father forgot to pick him up. The mere thought of it all made her furious. The cat ears she had been wearing all day were ripped off in a haste and thrown across the hallway into the wall opposing her. It was only this morning when she was thinking about how great her life had been in the past two months yet, right under her nose, a boy - not old enough to dress himself properly - was suffering more than she ever had in her life.

Her fingers pressed the buttons of her phone again. By this stage, his number was ingrained in her memory for the rest of her life. As she lifted the phone to her ear, she heard rapid, heavy footsteps a couple corridors away from where she was sitting. It had to be him. No one else would be around this late.

She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to turn into her corridor. Not even a second later, a tall man came to a halt and looked at her with relief. He slowed down his pace as he started to catch his breath again.

"I'm sorry–"

"How dare you?" Sakura could barely recognise her own voice. She marched towards him until they were face-to-face. His features were hard to make out in the darkness but his eyes were an unmistakable amber – the exact same as Ryuu's.

"Where have you been? Classes finished 4 hours ago and I've been calling, what I assume is your number, for the past hour," she said, her voice was raising octaves as she spoke more. "Your poor child has been waiting for you for 4 hours and you've been where?" She looked down at his untucked dress shirt and loose tie. For all she knew, he had been at a club with how he was dressed.

"Please lower your voice," he muttered as a muscle in his cheek twitched.

"That's all you have to say?" she asked, her voice laced with shock. "How could you forget your own goddamn child?" Her arms flung out in front of her but they were instantly caught.

He pulled her arms down, his grip tightening around her wrists as she struggled to pull them away. He leaned over her small frame, his face close enough for her to feel his breath on her skin. "One more word and I'll withdraw him from this school."

"You're hurting me," she whispered, eyes welling up at his words. He let go and she began to rub her wrists, where red marks were appearing. He took a couple of steps back and let out of a deep breath, running his fingers through his messy hair.

"I know I'm fucking shit at this," his voice seethed through his teeth. "I don't need some fucking teacher yelling it at my face when he's in the room next door." He jabbed his finger in the direction of the classroom. Sakura's mouth dropped open, surprised at the language and tone he was using towards her.

"I'll go get him," she said, wiping the wetness that had dampened her cheeks. When she reached the classroom, Ryuu was already standing at the door with his backpack.

"Sorry," Ryuu said, barely above a whisper. He had heard it all. He left before she could utter a word back. Sakura sat down as she waited for the computer to shut down. The events that had just occurred were relaying in her head. Everything that Eriol warned her about was starting to make sense. Ryuu's drawing made sense. She closed her eyes as she leaned back in the chair, rubbing small circles where he had held her wrists earlier.

The creaking of the door caught her attention and what surprised her was that it was Ryuu's dad who had slipped into the room. Sakura was able to get a better look at the man now that the lights were on. Her face reddened. He was young, and good looking. His untucked dress shirt and messy hair gave her a sense of familiarity but she couldn't pinpoint it.

When he reached the desk, he pulled out a black envelope from the pocket of his charcoal, grey suit jacket and placed it on the desk. "It's from Eriol," he said, looking into her eyes.

Sakura quickly spoke up before he could leave. "Li-san," she said. His head turned sharply at the sound of his name. "Ryuu drew this in class today." She handed him the drawing and watched the colour drain from his face.

"I'm sorry for all of this. It won't happen again," he said as he tucked the drawing into the same pocket that held the envelope. "I'm sure Tomoyo is waiting for you." A corner of his mouth lifted before snapping back into a tight line.

Sakura's hand shot up to clutch the name tag as he briskly walked out of the classroom. Her whole body flushed at the thought of him getting close enough to read it.

She turned her attention to the letter he had given her. The envelope was black with her name written on the front in silver, calligraphy. She peeled it open and took out the card. It was an invitation to a Halloween party happening that weekend. Her eyes scanned down the invitation. It had Masquerade as its theme and it was going to be held at Li Resorts.

Her hand instantaneously went to her mouth, a finger slipped between her teeth. Recognition and realisation flooded her mind as she connected the dots. Li Resorts. Ryuu Li. Amber eyes. There was one protruding thought racing through her head:

_That was him._


	6. White Champagne and Lipstick Stains

**October 2016**

The silence was killing him. From the corridors of the primary school to the elevator ride up to their hotel suite, not a single word had left Ryuu's lips. Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day.

"Ryuu, please talk to me," Syaoran pleaded as he followed the child down the hallway of the hotel suite. "I said I was sorry."

Ryuu's hands clenched the straps of his backpack tighter. He kept his head down as he scurried to his bedroom.

"Ryuu, you need to eat," Syaoran said, but there was no reply. Only the sound of a door slamming echoed throughout the suite. Syaoran winced at the noise. This was the first time Ryuu had acted like this and he was not prepared.

Syaoran strolled into the kitchen and opened the freezer. His eyes scanned the contents that were within. He didn't recognise any of the labels or packages. It had been a long time since he had cooked a homemade meal. The food contained in his freezer was bought by Mei and eaten by Ryuu and Eriol.

He reached out for the ice cream container and dropped it on the bench. It had 3 flavours - vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. Each flavour had its own section, separate from the rest. He went directly for the chocolate ice cream and scooped it into a bowl. Chocolate was his favourite flavour when he was Ryuu's age.

Syaoran stood outside Ryuu's bedroom. One hand held the bowl with chocolate ice cream and the other hand curled around the handle.

"I'm coming in," Syaoran said, loud enough for the boy on the other side of the door to hear.

The door was pushed lightly, wide enough for Syaoran's broad frame to enter. Syaoran swallowed hard at the sight before him. Ryuu was curled on top of his red and blue bedsheets, his arms wrapped around the Pokemon plushy Eriol had given him for Christmas last year. Syaoran sucked in the stale air and sunk into the bed.

"I brought you ice cream," he mumbled as he placed it on the bed next to Ryuu.

Ryuu peered over the plushy that was pressing against his cheeks. He eyed the bowl before sitting up, taking the bowl into his hands. His expression was blank as he looked down at the ice cream.

"Your teacher gave me this." Syaoran pulled out the drawing from his pocket and put it down in front of Ryuu.

"Kinomoto-sensei," Ryuu whispered.

Syaoran furrowed his eyebrows at the name. "What?"

"That's her name." His eyes fluttered up. "Kinomoto-sensei."

"Okay…" Syaoran blinked at the information. The name of Ryuu's teacher was the least of his concerns now. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. There's nothing to talk about," Ryuu replied as he put the bowl onto the bed. The ice cream was untouched.

Syaoran's gazed dropped from Ryuu to the ice cream bowl. "Oh, come on. You're not even going to eat the food I give you?" he asked, throwing his head back in frustration. He had been cold-shouldered by plenty of people before. His mother, his friends, women - but now, even his son was giving him a cold shoulder. There had to be a line drawn somewhere before he lost his mind.

"I don't like chocolate ice cream," Ryuu whispered. His brown bangs covered his eyes as he looked down at his clasped hands in his lap.

Syaoran's shoulders slumped at the response. He didn't know that. He didn't know something as simple as his son's favourite ice cream flavour. He dragged his hand down his face before reaching out to pick up the bowl. The ice cream was half melted now but it didn't matter. Chocolate was his favourite flavour.

The sharp, quick sound of the spoon clinking against the bowl filled the room. No words were spoken. After a few minutes, Ryuu jumped off the bed and headed towards his backpack. Syaoran tilted his head at his son, trying to gauge what he was doing.

Ryuu returned to the bed with a piece of paper in his hand. He climbed back onto the bed and placed it next to his drawing, the direction of the drawing faced Syaoran.

Syaoran's brows knitted at the new picture. It wasn't coloured in as Ryuu's drawing had been. It was simple. Only one pen was used and the people were drawn as stick figures. One girl and two men - the girl identifiable by the triangle dress. It wasn't their family. Even if they counted Eriol as part of their family, Ryuu still wasn't a girl.

"Kinomoto-sensei doesn't have a mum like me," Ryuu explained, avoiding the shocked expression on Syaoran's face. "But her dad tells her stories about her mum."

Syaoran's eyes travelled from the drawing to Ryuu's face. He gulped hard and looked away quickly. The hands holding the bowl fell to rest upon his knees. Ryuu didn't know much about his mother and before now, he had never spoken about her or asked questions about her. Silence fell upon them. Syaoran opened his mouth but slammed it shut just as fast.

"The day you were born, your mother was so happy," Syaoran said softly as he gazed at a spot on the floor. "She couldn't take her eyes off you. To her," he paused, his throat bobbed, "to us, you were the most beautiful thing we'd ever laid our eyes on."

Ryuu brought the Pokemon plushy closer to him, hugging it tightly as Syaoran spoke.

"She wanted to show the whole world that you were her baby boy." He blinked away the tears that were forming before turning directly to Ryuu. "She loved you so much, Ryuu. Don't you ever forget that."

Ryuu's mouth curved into a small smile as he nodded. It was a rare smile directed at Syaoran and he couldn't help himself from returning it. Neither of them said anything more. The room was silent except for the hum of the air conditioner.

Syaoran stood up and rubbed his eyes. It hurt to talk about Kimi and it hurt even more that the only way Ryuu would ever know her was through stories. With his back facing Ryuu, he stopped at the door.

"What type of ice cream do you like?" Syaoran asked.

"Strawberry."

Syaoran's head fell back as he sucked in a deep breath. The breath that left his mouth was a wisp and a flutter, shaky and emotional.

 _The same as Kimi_.

* * *

The lights inside of Tomoyo's workplace were still on by the time Sakura had arrived. There was a big sign plastered on the window: _Fittings by appointment only_. She wasn't there for an appointment or a fitting. Sakura entered the store and a ding went off, alerting the employees that someone had entered their store. While she waited for a staff member to attend to her, Sakura browsed through the racks of dresses on display.

There were dresses of all shapes and sizes. They had chiffon, silk, lace, and satin dresses, as well as, long, short, and teacup dresses. Some had one strap and others had two but the majority had sweetheart necklines. The arch cut out in the wall lead Sakura into another room. There was a platform in the centre, surrounded by antique chaises, mannequins and racks filled with white gowns.

Sakura took a closer look at the ballgown on one of the mannequins. The corset bodice was covered with gemstones which dispersed down the satin skirt. She was careful not to touch the pure white fabric. Her hands were clean but it wasn't worth the risk.

"Sorry, did you have an appointment?" A petite lady stood under the arch of the room. Her hands were clasped together in front of her black, pencil skirt. She was wearing the same name badge that Tomoyo wore to work each day but it was too far away for Sakura to read.

"No. I'm looking for Tomoyo Daidouji," Sakura replied. The instant Sakura mentioned her friend's name, the smile the lady had on her face faded.

"I'll go get her for you," she said, forcing a smile before she hurried out of the room.

Sakura wandered over to the other side of the room where the other mannequins were. One particular dress caught her eye. It was completely different to the gown she was looking at before the lady interrupted her. This dress had a figure-hugging silhouette with a lace tattoo covering the open back. The dress was tight around the abdomen and legs but it flared out into a mermaid tail at the bottom.

Unlike the last dress, Sakura couldn't help but raise her hand to touch this dress. As soon as her finger touched the lace, she heard hushed voices at the entrance of the room. She quickly pulled her hand away and looked over. Sakura could see the back of Tomoyo's hair and the face of the lady from before. She was talking to Tomoyo while making big gestures. The tight-lipped expression on her face was anything but friendly. Sakura quickly turned her attention on the dress when the lady stomped off.

"Sakura-chan, you should've told me you were coming tonight," Tomoyo said, her usual tone sounded off. Normally, when Sakura saw Tomoyo, she was beaming but that wasn't the case tonight.

"Sorry… I thought I wouldn't need to…" Sakura's voice trailed off as she narrowed her eyes at Tomoyo's odd behaviour.

Tomoyo took Sakura's hand into hers. "It's okay. Let's go to my workstation." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.

Tomoyo lead Sakura downstairs to where the workstations were for the alterations. On the way there, Tomoyo's eyes continued to dart behind her as if she was avoiding someone, trying not to be caught. The tables downstairs had material and tools scattered across them. Tomoyo sat down at one of the tables where an ivory dress was stretched out. She picked up a pencil and began to chew on it.

"Are you okay with me being here?" Sakura asked as she settled on the other side of the table.

"Of course." Her eyes shot up to meet Sakura's but they quickly lowered to the gown. "It's just that my boss doesn't like people coming in unexpectedly. That's all."

Sakura nodded slowly before she replied, "I came here on my first day of work without telling you."

"She wasn't here when you came in that day," Tomoyo smiled briefly before picking up the pin cushion. "How was work?" Sakura noticed the change of subject but she decided to let it go.

"I met Ryuu's father today," Sakura said, her hands fiddled with the black envelope she was given not too long ago.

"Was he like what Eriol-kun said?" Tomoyo asked. Apparently, Eriol had the time to warn Tomoyo about Ryuu's dad before he left this morning. It didn't surprise Sakura. There had obviously been a bad experience between Ryuu's dad and Eriol to cause such distress and worry.

"Uhh…" Sakura's hesitation immediately caused Tomoyo to drop her needle and put all of her attention on Sakura.

"Tell me what he did," Tomoyo said, her eyes directly on Sakura.

"He forgot to pick up Ryuu, so I waited four hours for him," Sakura said. Tomoyo's jaw went slack. "Ryuu wasn't wearing a costume either so I guess he forgot about that…"

Sakura paused before saying the last thing about Ryuu's father. Tomoyo crossed her arms over her chest and raised her perfectly shaped brows expectantly. She knew there was more to be said and it was something Sakura didn't want her to know.

"He was a bit rude to me." Her hand instinctively went to her wrist. The sudden movement did not go unnoticed by Tomoyo.

"Did he hurt you?" she asked, her tone was unwavering. The Tomoyo who was usually smiling and saying inappropriate things was absent. She was full of concern as she focussed on Sakura's wrists.

Sakura's eyes widen at the question. "No, of course not."

"Let me see," Tomoyo demanded as she gestured towards Sakura's wrists.

Sakura placed her hands flat on the table, providing Tomoyo full vision of the wrists that Ryuu's father had held earlier. She lightly pressed her fingers onto them and flipped them over delicately as if they were made of glass.

"It doesn't hurt?" Tomoyo asked, gauging Sakura's facial reactions.

"No."

Tomoyo sighed at the response. "It is not okay for him to do this," Tomoyo said as she ran her fingers around Sakura's wrists. "It doesn't matter if he's Ryuu's dad or not. You have to report it to someone."

"That won't be necessary. He probably felt bad enough for forgetting Ryuu and then my big mouth said things I shouldn't have," Sakura explained, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

"Why are you defending him?" Tomoyo asked.

"I'm not defending him," Sakura shot back.

"You are. You're making excuses for him." Tomoyo flipped the ivory dress over and picked up a needle.

"I think that, maybe…" Her voice trailed off as she avoided all eye contact with Tomoyo. "I think that Ryuu's dad is the man from the hotel."

"The man who bought you a room?" Tomoyo asked, dropping the needle she had in her hand.

Sakura nodded. "He gave me an invitation to a Halloween party at Li Resorts and Ryuu's last name is Li-"

"Lots of people have Li as their last name," Tomoyo pointed out.

"I know but not every Li is as handsome as he was." A flush crept up on her face at the confession.

Tomoyo's brows snapped together as if she was deep in thought. "Wait a second. Did you say Li Resorts?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura's head bounced in confirmation. "Ryuu Li," she repeated. Tomoyo took her phone off the table and began to tap away at the screen. After a few seconds, she held up the phone in front of Sakura. "Is that him?"

The picture on the screen had two people in it. One was obviously Ryuu's father. He was wearing a black suit, similar to the one he had been wearing earlier. His frame was a bit smaller than what she had seen before but she couldn't keep her eyes off one thing - his smile. His smile warmed up the screen and it made him more handsome than she thought humanly possible. His arm was circled around a woman with long, black hair. Unlike Ryuu's father, she wasn't looking at the camera. Her eyes were on the man next to her, her smiling mirroring his.

"Yeah, that's him. He's a bit older now," Sakura confirmed.

Tomoyo gasped, "You met Syaoran Li and you didn't even realise it!" Tomoyo brought her phone back to her face and looked at the picture herself. "I'm so jealous. His jawline was carved by god himself."

"Syaoran?" Sakura questioned.

Tomoyo's eyes were glued to her phone screen as she swiped through the pictures that were available online. "It all makes sense now," Tomoyo mumbled to herself. "He's the CEO of Li Resorts and he was pretty popular in the media until his wife died."

"Was that his wife in the picture?" Her heart felt heavy at the mention of his dead wife. It brought back the memory of her conversation with Ryuu earlier that day.

"Yeah, that was her," Tomoyo replied. "He kinda just disappeared after her death which is a shame because he oozed charisma."

"He didn't seem very charismatic today..." Tomoyo's eyes glanced up from her screen and focussed on Sakura's wrists.

"Right. Good thing you never asked for his number then." Tomoyo placed her phone down on the table before turning her attention to the black envelope in Sakura's hand. "How long are you going to wait until you show me this invitation?"

Sakura handed it over to Tomoyo and watched her reaction as she scanned down the card. "Eriol could've given me a heads up like two months ago," she muttered under her breath.

Tomoyo placed the envelope on the table. "I can't possibly make you a custom dress in two days, Sakura-chan," she said, a tinge of sadness laced her voice. "When I finish this hemline, we can look at the dresses in the stockroom that don't need altering."

Sakura gave Tomoyo a wide smile. She could always count on Tomoyo to give her a hand. They'd only been friends for a couple of weeks and it was already clear that there was no one in Sakura's life who could compare to the love and support that Tomoyo gave to her. No matter what she needed or what she did, Tomoyo was there for her. Calling her a best friend was an understatement - Tomoyo was the sister she never had.

"Is Eriol-kun going to this party?" Tomoyo asked as she continued to carefully weave the needle in and out of the dress.

"I assume so. I mean, he wouldn't invite me if he wasn't going, right?" Tomoyo nodded in agreement at the question. "I should probably send him a message." Sakura grabbed her cell phone out of her bag and tapped the screen.

_Thanks for the invite. I can't wait to see you there. x_

Tomoyo straightened out the dress and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm finished here. Let's go to the stockroom."

The light in the stockroom had been off when the girls entered. Tomoyo quickly flicked the light on before either of them could fall over the boxes that were taking up most of the floor. There were various racks with dresses on them. Some of them were in bags and others had paper attached to them, detailing the alterations to be made. There were white gowns similar to the ones Sakura had seen upstairs but there were also a variety of cocktail dresses amongst them. Sakura's hand reached out to touch the forest green dress on the rack.

"Don't touch that." Tomoyo swatted her hand away. "It's on hold for someone." It wasn't that Sakura had grubby hands but the dresses were expensive. If one of them got ruined because of Sakura, she wouldn't have the means to cough up the money to repair it.

Tomoyo came to a halt at one of the racks with the cocktail dresses on them. Her hands pushed them aside, one by one, as she took a good look at them. There was no way she could fit one of the gowns for Sakura before the party. Her schedule was already filled to the brim with alterations to do before Halloween. She picked dresses off the rack and checked the sizes. If the size was right, she held it in front of Sakura's body. Tomoyo did this a few times until there was a cough at the door.

"What are you doing here, Daidouji-san?" The voice belonged to the petite woman.

"Sorry, I just wanted to-"

"You haven't finished the detailing on the lilac dress I gave to you yesterday," the woman snapped. "We don't pay you to sit around and talk to your friends all day." She spoke as if it were only her and Tomoyo in the room.

Sakura bit her lip and kept her eyes on the floor as she listened to the scolding Tomoyo was receiving. The whole time she had been in the store today, Tomoyo's boss had been nothing but rude to her friend. It was odd because Tomoyo had never mentioned it or even complained about it at home.

"We were just leaving," Tomoyo stammered, bowing her head. She reached out for Sakura's hand and walked her to the front of the store. Her eyes darted behind her, checking if the petite woman was following them.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo averted her gaze back to Sakura. "She's just like that." She forced out a laugh. It sounded nothing like her signature laugh. "I'll bring something for you to wear. Don't worry about it." Tomoyo gave her a light push out of the store before closing the door and hurrying away. She didn't turn around to wave goodbye.

Sakura stumbled out of the store. This was the first time she had seen Tomoyo act this way. It was unusual and different. As she walked to their apartment, she chewed on her bottom lip. There was something Tomoyo wasn't telling her and now that she knew, Sakura wasn't going to let Tomoyo hide it from her anymore. It was finally her turn to be there for Tomoyo.

By the time Tomoyo returned home, Sakura was fast asleep under the purple sheets of her bed.

* * *

The night of the party had finally arrived. Luckily for Sakura, it was turned out to be a pleasant evening for the event. The sky was calm and the air was warm. The forecast had predicted rain but there wasn't a cloud in sight.

Several children had already knocked at their apartment door. Tomoyo had dressed up specifically for the trick-or-treaters. It hadn't been popular when they were young but the influence from the West saw a number of children dressing up each year. Tomoyo wasn't young enough to go knocking on doors for candy but she still wore a little black and purple dress with a matching witch hat. Her plan was to scare the children when she opened the door but instead, most of them left mesmerised by her beauty.

In between the hoards of children knocking at the door, Tomoyo helped Sakura get ready. The dress she had brought home was a perfect fit for Sakura's slim frame. It was a red, lace cocktail dress which had short sleeves and an open back. A ribbon wrapped tightly around the waist to separate the lace bodice from the chiffon skirt.

"Turn around so I can zip you up," Tomoyo said. Sakura held her hair to the side as Tomoyo pulled up the zipper. She turned Sakura around and held her at an arm's length, her eyes scanning down. Satisfied with what she saw, Tomoyo picked up her camcorder and hit record.

"I want you to pose next to the window," Tomoyo instructed. Sakura had offered payment for the loan of the dress but Tomoyo wouldn't accept any of it. She simply requested Sakura to be a willing participant whenever she brought her camcorder out. Looking back on it now, she might've agreed too fast before thinking about the consequences. "Smile at the camera."

Tomoyo was beaming as she filmed Sakura in the dress. Sakura was following the directions that Tomoyo was giving to her to the best of her abilities but she wasn't a model. In reality, the whole posing in a dress and being filmed put her outside of her comfort zone.

"Don't you like the dress?" Tomoyo asked as she put the camcorder down. It wasn't surprising that Tomoyo picked up on her discomfort.

"No," Sakura said and Tomoyo reached over to pick up the camcorder again, "but don't you think it's a bit too revealing?"

Tomoyo scoffed at the question. "Don't tell me you're self-conscious, Sakura-chan." The silence from Sakura caused Tomoyo to sigh. She turned her camcorder off this time. "You look gorgeous and Eriol-kun is going to be thanking me a lot for this tomorrow," Tomoyo said with the most genuine voice she could manage. She took Sakura's hands into hers. "You have nothing to worry about, okay?" Her eyes were wide as she looked directly into Sakuras. She lifted a finger to tuck a strand of Sakura's hair behind her ear. Sakura bit back a smile and nodded. Tomoyo always knew what to say.

"Your Uber should be here soon," Tomoyo said. "Now go have fun for me while I stay home and eat all of our chocolates." Tomoyo winked before slamming the door in Sakura's face.

* * *

Limousines and sports cars filled the street outside of Li Resorts. Nearly two months had passed since she had spent the night there but it looked exactly the same - minus all of the debris from the storm.

The foyer was filled with guests, waiting to be ushered into the ballroom. They were all wearing expensive gowns and tuxedos - each paired with a matching mask. Sakura felt out of place with her cocktail dress but it didn't take long to spot some other women wearing similar dresses. She adjusted the red, lace mask Tomoyo had made for her. It was wrapped tightly around her head with a ribbon. She saw various masks on the guests. There were masks that covered the whole face and others inspired by Phantom of the Opera. The majority wore ones that only masked the eye region.

As Sakura walked further into the room, a waiter offered her a glass of champagne. She gladly took it from his tray. Something told her that she would be needing the edge of alcohol this evening. Around twenty minutes later, the guests were ushered into the ballroom.

It looked like a party straight out of the Great Gatsby except there wasn't the thrill of alcohol prohibition. The room was dark and it was difficult to see unless a stream of light flashed in her direction. Sakura could see the faint outline of crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling but they weren't being used. The loud music came from the corner of the room where a live orchestra was playing. It was unlike any party she had attended before.

Sakura cautiously walked through the room, trying to avoid bumping into anyone or tripping over anything. It was a difficult task considering the darkness. There were chocolate fountains on their own tables, and caskets of alcohol spread out across the room. An ice sculpture of a pumpkin head was the main feature in the centre of the room. She made a mental note to see if it was still ice by the time she left.

Strobe lights were shining down on circular platforms where the dancers performed. They were scantily clad but at least they were wearing masks too. At both ends of the ballroom were two large French doors that stretched all the way to the ceiling. The doors were open and a cloud of cigarette smoke wafted inside from the balconies on either side.

They had only opened the doors to the ballroom 15 minutes ago but there were already couples dancing, women chatting, and men drinking. Sakura sucked in her cheek. It was a next to impossible task to find Eriol in such a crowd.

She slouched in defeat and pushed her way through the mass of people until she reached the bar. It was one of the many bars she could see in the room but it also had the least amount of people. She wished Eriol had picked her up. It was going to be a long night of drinking unless she found anyone she knew and when she thought about it, the only people she knew were Eriol and Ryuu's dad - if he was even there at all.

"What can I get for you?" the bartender asked, giving Sakura a smile as he leaned over the bar. He was quite young, probably a few years younger than Sakura. He had short black hair and Sakura could see a number of tattoos poking out of his sleeves.

"Umm…" Sakura bit her lip as she scanned around the bar. There weren't any menus or signs containing a list of drinks.

"Stop looking at her like she's a piece of meat and get her a house cocktail," the old woman beside her barked.

Sakura turned her whole body to face the woman. Her grey hair was decorated with little crystal pins that matched the embellishments on her cream gown. The thing that stood out the most was her lack of a mask.

"Thank you," Sakura said, bowing respectfully to the woman. Her new companion shifted her eyes from the glass to Sakura.

"No need to thank me, darling," she said, her eyes scanning down Sakura's dress. "The alcohol is free and the testosterone is high tonight. Us girls gotta stick out for each other." She smiled briefly before returning to her drink.

"Are you here with someone?" Sakura asked as she swirled the straw through her cocktail.

"I came with my husband but he's probably talking business instead of actually having a good time," she said with a twinge of sadness in her eyes. "What about you? A smart man wouldn't leave you alone with all the vultures here tonight."

Sakura giggled at the indirect compliment. "My boyfriend invited me but I haven't seen him yet," she replied as she brought the straw to her mouth.

The old woman smiled knowingly. "You better drink up, honey. It's going to be a long night before you see him." She held out her hand. "My name's Umeko, and you?"

"Sakura."

More women came to join them at the bar. Half of them had already taken off their heels and the other half were complaining about their husbands disappearing on them. The party wasn't remotely similar to what Sakura had imagined. It was just a fancy and far more expensive business meeting. It was an event for the business men and women to get drunk, smoke all types of joints, and show off their partners to their associates. If they didn't have a partner, it was merely another event to find someone else to keep them company for the night. Umeko mentioned that her husband was a senior partner at one of Japan's major hedge funds.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut after the sixth shot Umeko ordered for her. Despite her age, Umeko could hold her alcohol remarkably well. Sakura, on the other hand, could not. They had drunk the same amount of alcohol but any reasonable bystander would be completely convinced that Umeko was sober.

"U-u-umeko-san, I- that's enough for me," Sakura covered her mouth as she gulped the last of the alcohol down.

"You're not going to be sick on me, are you?" Umeko's voice was laced with concern. She rubbed Sakura's exposed back in small, slow circles. Sakura sucked in her lips and shook her head defiantly. Drunk Sakura was far more stubborn than sober Sakura.

"Perfect. My husband is coming over right now and you're going to dance with him," Umeko whispered before spinning Sakura around to face a man. He was only a couple of inches taller than Sakura but his thinning, grey hair was one of the many factors that highlighted the age gap between the pair. He leaned over and gave Umeko a chaste kiss on the cheek before turning his attention to Sakura.

"You must be Umeko's new victim." He grinned before lifting Sakura's hand to his mouth and pressing his lips firmly against it. Sakura giggled at the gesture. It wasn't common for men to kiss her hand. Especially considering she was surrounded by children most days of the week.

"This is Sakura-chan. It's her first time at one of these parties so treat her well," Umeko said as she flicked her wrist causing her bracelets to jingle against each other.

Umeko's husband rolled his eyes her comment. "I see my wife is pawning you off to me. Would you like to dance?" He gave Sakura a genuine smile.

Sakura looked at Umeko who was eagerly nodding her head. "I- just one dance," Sakura said, holding up one finger. Even one dance seemed too much. She clung onto Umeko's husband as he lead her out to the dancefloor.

He wrapped his hand around her waist and placed it in the middle of her back - not higher or lower.

"I apologise for my wife," he whispered above her head. "She has never been too fond of dancing."

Sakura merely nodded at his comment. She was far too busy focusing on her two left feet. In her current state, having a conversation and dancing would be asking too much of her.

His eyes averted from the room to Sakura's face. "Who did you come along with?" he asked.

"Eriol Hiira- Hiiragiz-" Sakura's face went scarlet at her inability to pronounce his name. She should've stopped after the second shot Umeko gave her.

"Hiiragizawa," he finished. "I haven't seen him yet. I wasn't aware that he was coming tonight." His eyes were scanning the room. After a couple of seconds, he looked back down at Sakura and sighed. "My wife has clearly done a number on you. I'll take you back there but please don't drink anymore - the last thing I want is for you to have alcohol poisoning courtesy of my wife."

Sakura grasped onto his hand tightly as he helped her back to her seat. He leaned over the bar to whisper instructions to the bartender, jabbing a finger in Sakura's direction. Sakura grabbed her cell phone out of her clutch and sent a message to Eriol:

_I'm in the red dress at the bar near the balcony._

"We have to leave now, Sakura-chan." Umeko's hand touched Sakura's shoulder. "It was a pleasure meeting you tonight. I hope to see you next time." She gave a warm smile before linking arms with her husband. He gave Sakura a polite nod before turning his attention to his wife. It was a perfect picture of a happy couple. Old love was a beautiful sight to see.

Sakura's chin rested upon her hand as her fingers drummed on the counter of the bar. It had been four hours since she arrived and Eriol still hadn't shown up. In fact, Eriol hadn't returned any of her messages since he left on Friday. That in itself was odd. She looked around the ballroom once more, trying to catch a glimpse of his black hair but it was to no avail. It was far too dark to see anyone and the coloured strobe lights didn't help her vision at all.

"Are you here alone tonight?" The young bartender from earlier was back. He had one hand on a glass and another one cleaning it with a towel.

"No," Sakura replied, shaking her head slowly. "I- I'm waiting for someone."

The bartender grinned. "How long has he kept you waiting?"

"I think 3- no 4 hours now," she replied. She sucked in a deep breath. The flashing lights and smoke were starting to make her dizzy.

His gaze darkened as he leaned over the counter, only close enough for Sakura to hear him. "My shift is over in two hours if you want to wait for me."

Sakura froze and her eyes opened as wide as they could. "I have a boyfriend," she said, looking at him directly.

He shrugged his shoulders. "The offer still stands if he doesn't show up." He winked and threw the towel down before returning to the other side of the bar.

Sakura rested her elbows on the counter of the bar. It seemed as though Eriol hadn't turned up at all. He hadn't sent her any messages or called her. Sakura entertained the thought of Eriol surprising her but four hours of waiting around seemed too cruel for any type of surprise. As soon as she dismissed the thought, two strong arms circled her slim waist and a hard body was pressed against her back.

She stiffened at the contact and placed her hands onto the clasped hands resting on her stomach. "Eriol?" she asked.

"Mhmmm," he murmured against her neck. He pushed her hair away from her neck and inhaled with deep exaggeration. "Let's get out of here," he whispered though it was difficult to hear with the live music.

He clutched her hand and pulled her clean out of view. They came to an abrupt stop in the corner of the room. The area was darker than it was at the bar, the strobe lights weren't hitting this area of the room.

Sakura gasped as he pressed her against the wall. The marble wall behind her was cold against her skin. Before she could complain, he smashed a hot kiss on her lips, his whisky breath mixed with hers.

He kissed the corners of her mouth before moving down to her neck. As he gently sucked and kissed the exposed skin, Sakura tilted her head back to rest against the wall. She let out a moan as he nibbled her earlobe. Eriol had never done that before. Sakura ran her fingers through his hair before pulling him back up to her lips. The kisses were needy, hungry, and urgent. As if they'd been separated for years.

The hand that had been resting on her thigh started to trail up until it reached the waistband of her underwear. As he started tugging it down, Sakura placed two hands on his broad chest. "Not here, Eriol…" she whispered.

He ripped his lips from her neck and pushed himself against her as he rested his head against hers. "Just give it to me," he murmured into her ear as he bunched up her dress. "Just give it to me one last time," he pleaded, his tone was softer.

"I- I don't think-"

He closed his mouth over hers, their lips locked in a tender kiss before he pulled away. His eyes were squeezed shut.

"Just one last time, Kimi," he growled against her lips.

Sakura's eyes flew wide open. She shoved him away with both of her hands and pulled down her dress as she stumbled away. Her hand slowly came up to cover her open mouth. After a couple of steps, she turned back to look at the man she'd just kissed. Her face paled.

_That wasn't Eriol._

The man was hunched over, one hand clutching his stomach and the other hand on the marble wall. Two seconds later, whatever he had consumed that evening was hurled onto the floor.

_Who did I just kiss?_

Sakura clung to the wall as she stumbled outside. The man didn't make any move to follow her. Her breaths were rapid and shallow as she tapped the screen of her cell phone. She could barely press the right buttons because her hand was shaking so badly. She held the phone against her ear with two hands. Her heart pounded as the call connected to the other side. The whole time, tears flowed down her cheek. She had to get out of there and she had to get out of there now.

"Tomoyo-chan," her voice trembled as she spoke, "I've done something horrible."

 


	7. Between the Two of Us

**November 2016**

It was an agonising thirty minutes for Tomoyo until she arrived at Li Resorts. She pulled up in her white Camry that had chipped paint on the sides and scrambled out of the car door. Her eyes frantically searched the area for Sakura but it was to no avail. Her red dress wasn't in sight. There were groups of people standing outside, separated like different lion packs in the wild. On her left, a bunch of chauffeurs waited for their clients while smoking cheap cigars. On her right, there were guests waiting to be picked up. The shoes were off their feet and masks were in their hands but even so, there were traces of smiles that lingered on their lips. It had been a good night. A good night for them.

Tomoyo scrunched her nose at the smoke that wafted in her direction. She wasn't a fan of it, to say the least. It had even been one of the restrictions on the contract for a roommate she had sought just two months ago – non-smoker preferable – the contract had said.

She was well aware of the stares she was receiving. It was clear as day that she wasn't an employee or a guest. Her light blue, cotton pyjamas stood out amongst the sea of fancy tuxedos and expensive evening gowns. The purple, fluffy slippers didn't help her blend in much either. It didn't matter to her though. She was there for Sakura and Sakura alone. Her dignity and pride as a fashionista was put on hold for tonight.

Ignoring the stares, she pulled her beige cardigan tightly around her petite waist and made her way to the entrance of the hotel. Sakura wasn't outside so the only place that left was the inside. As she approached the rotating door that led into the foyer of the hotel, a young man in a suit stepped in front of her.

"Good evening, may I assist you with anything?" he asked, a tight smile plastered on his face. There were no signs of a mask on him but rather, only a badge adorned with 'Li Resorts' was pinned on the left side of his jacket.

Tomoyo returned his smile but she kept it brief. She stood on her tippy-toes, peering over the man's tall frame – trying to catch a glimpse of the interior. The man was quick to act when he caught onto what she was doing. He shuffled in the direction of her eyes, blocking her vision of the foyer. She settled down on her flat feet and gave a big huff.

"I'm looking for my friend," she explained. "She has light brown hair and she's wearing a red dress." The words left her mouth faster than she could think of them. "Her dress is made with lace. Lace– do you know what lace is?"

She tucked her hands under her arms, warming them in the cool weather. Sensing her distress, the man extended a hand to place on her shaking shoulders but she quickly moved away.

"Listen," he said, "I can't help you unless you give me a name. There were dozens of women wearing red dresses tonight."

"Kinomoto Sakura." The name flew out of her mouth. "She came with Hiiragizawa Eriol."

The man's brows formed a tight line at the mention of the latter name. "Hiiragizawa-san is not in attendance tonight."

Her head tilted at the information but she quickly shook away any assumptions that came to her mind. She would have to ask Sakura about it later because there was no doubt it was related to what had happened this evening.

"Well, if you excuse me, I need to find my friend now," Tomoyo said as she sidestepped around the man. She didn't make it anywhere near the entrance. The man's arm shot out and pulled her right back before she could even take a second step.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you enter," he said, to which Tomoyo's perfectly manicured eyebrow quirked at. "Celebrity guest lists mean tighter restrictions."

"But– but, I need to find my friend," Tomoyo spluttered out. "She needs me. She was crying on the phone—"

"I admire your creativity, lady but unfortunately, your little slip-up and lack of invitation means you won't be stepping one foot inside this hotel tonight," he grinned down at her as if he had just discovered her deepest, darkest secret.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes and sat on one of the benches near the rotating door. She kept an eye on it as people filed out but none of them were Sakura. Chewing her bottom lip, she pulled out her mobile again. There were no new messages or missed calls from Sakura. Tomoyo punched in a few numbers and held the phone to her ear.

"Please pick up. Please pick up. Please pick up," she whispered to herself as if the simple chant would make Sakura answer her phone. Her eyes glanced over to the nearby windows while the dial tone rang through her ear. If Sakura didn't answer anytime soon, Tomoyo would make no hesitation in jumping through one of the windows to find her. Even if it meant ripping her brand new, cotton pyjamas.

The dial tone faded into a generic voicemail message. Her hand dropped to her lap. Sakura was counting on her but she couldn't even get past the front door. Tomoyo looked up at the group leaving through the door. No Sakura, again. She twirled her finger through a single strand of her long, black hair. Her eyes landed on the man who she had been talking to only minutes before. There was a small gap between him and the door, small enough for her to fit through. All he needed to do was look the other direction. As if he heard her thoughts, his gaze connected with hers and a sweet smile took over her face.

"You owe me for this one, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo muttered under her breath. She brushed her hair back and stood up straight. Her stare unmoving from the man guarding the door.

"What can I help you with now?" he asked, folding his arms across his broad chest.

Tomoyo's deep, blue eyes peeked at the man through her dark lashes. "I was wondering if you could do something for me..." Her French tipped nail trailed down the front of his suit. "I'll be sure to return the favour."

He plucked her finger off his chest and dropped it in front of him. "It's going to take a lot more than one night if you want me to risk losing my job," he said in a low voice, only loud enough for Tomoyo to hear.

She pouted at the response. It was unexpected that he would reject her – especially with such a forward advance. Li Resorts should give him a pay rise. Loyal employees are hard to come by these days.

"I would lower your expectations if I were you," Tomoyo said in a hushed tone. She held her head high and turned around. If anything, she wouldn't wallow in his rejection – at least, not in front of him.

Tomoyo made her way to the stairs. She would have to check the front again to see if there were any signs of Sakura. It was the best she could do, considering she couldn't enter the hotel. Perhaps she could ask if any of the chauffeurs had seen her around. As she was halfway down the staircase, a loud commotion near the entrance caught her attention.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. It looks like you've had a bit too much to drink." The man from earlier – who Tomoyo now referred to as the gatekeeper – was holding up a girl who looked like she was about to collapse without the support of his hands around her waist.

"I– I need to g– get out of here," she slurred her words between the sobs that were escaping her mouth.

"Is there anyone I can call for you?" he asked, steadying her on the bench that Tomoyo had occupied earlier.

A frown line delved between her brows. That wasn't any random girl. She was wearing a red dress. A red, _lace_ dress. Tomoyo's red, lace dress.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo yelled as she scurried back up the stairs. Once she got close, she knelt in front of the drunk girl and pushed her hair away from her face. "I'm here now. Everything's going to be fine."

Sakura opened her eyes and stared at Tomoyo. The rims were red and the centres were laden with sadness and regret. Her cheeks were a blotchy pink and the perfect mascara, that she had on at the beginning of the night, was smeared under her eyes.

"Tomoyo-chan," she whispered. Her arms flung out and wrapped themselves around her friend. Sobs racked her body which only made her squeeze tighter. Any concern Tomoyo had on her face vanished as she looked at the hotel. It was anger. It was a rare sight – an angry Tomoyo, but something had happened. Something terrible had happened to her best friend and she was going to find out.

"Let's go home," Tomoyo whispered into Sakura's ear.

Tomoyo settled into the driver's seat after ensuring that Sakura's seat belt was secured. She unscrewed the lid of the water bottle and handed it over.

"Sip it and then tell me what happened," she said. Her voice was gentle but it held an undertone of a threat. She wanted to hear every single detail.

Sakura leaned her throbbing head against the window. Her eyes were closed but the tears continued to roll down her cheeks. She sipped at the water leisurely but no words had left her mouth.

Tomoyo's eyes drifted between the road and her friend in the passenger seat. She was careful not to look away for too long but she couldn't help herself. Her hand reached over and squeezed Sakura's knee. It was a reassuring gesture. A reminder that she wasn't alone. Sakura placed her own hand on top and held it tightly.

After unlocking the door, Tomoyo pushed it open lightly and walked straight to the kitchen to put her keys on the hook. Sakura stumbled in behind her, her hands plastered against the wall. Tomoyo raced back before she fell over and tossed an arm around her. Maybe she should've listened to Sakura's protests against the heels.

They collapsed on Sakura's bed. It had been a long night for both of them and the end of it was in sight.

"I'll go get some things," Tomoyo said as she shuffled out of the room. She didn't want to leave Sakura alone for too long. She had a feeling a fresh batch of tears would come if that happened. It wasn't her first time dealing with drunks. Some would become angry, some would become really loud and others, like Sakura, would cry. A lot.

With tissues in hand, Tomoyo returned to Sakura's room. Sakura was sitting on the edge of her bed. She had taken her heels off but her hands covered her face and her shoulders were shaking violently. Tomoyo sighed and knelt on the ground in front of Sakura for the second time that night.

"Can you tell me what happened? I want to help you," Tomoyo probed as she wiped away the tears with a tissue.

A few sniffles later, a whisper came out of Sakura's mouth, "E– Eriol wasn't there."

Tomoyo's lips tightened. The man at the hotel had said the same thing to her. Surely, Sakura hadn't spent the night alone though. It wasn't as if she needed Eriol to enjoy a party unless he did something.

"Did something else happened? He—" Tomoyo paused, carefully choosing her words. "He didn't break up with you, did he?"

A sad smile touched Sakura's lips at the suggestion. "No. Eriol didn't do anything wrong. It– I did something wrong…" Her steady voice transformed into a spurt of whimpers. " _Ikissedanotherguy_."

"I can't hear you when you're crying, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said softly, tucking a strand of Sakura's hair behind her ear.

"I– I k– kissed someone and it w– wasn't Eriol," Sakura whispered, her voice shaking. She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to prevent any more tears from escaping.

Tomoyo's mouth dropped slightly at the confession but she quickly regained her composure before Sakura noticed.

"Shhh, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay," she whispered as she pulled Sakura into a hug.

Sakura shook her head against Tomoyo's chest. "N– n– no, it's n– not okay," Sakura said. "I should've known my own b– boyfriend."

"Did you kiss this man thinking it was Eriol?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded her head in response.

"I asked if it was Eriol and he just said _mhmmm_ so I thought…" Sakura explained. "T- then he pulled me away into a corner and I couldn't see anything."

Tomoyo stroked Sakura's hair as she told her what had happened.

"It was so loud. I– I could barely hear what he was saying. I couldn't see him either but I—" Her voice faltered. "I should've known it wasn't E- Eriol when he hugged me." New tears flowed down her cheeks.

"It wasn't your fault, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said with conviction. "You drank so much that you could barely walk. I'm surprised you even recognised me." Tomoyo stood up and brought Sakura to her feet. She spun the other girl around and began to unzip the dress that had to be returned the following day in _perfect_ condition.

"How am I going to tell Eriol?" Sakura whispered into the quiet room. Tomoyo held the zipper in place as she pondered on the question. She placed a firm hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"You won't tell him," she said as she tugged the dress down Sakura's body. "And I won't tell him either."

"What? I– I have to tell him." Sakura lifted her arms to allow Tomoyo to pull a nightshirt over her.

"No, you don't. You kissed some random guy at a party who you probably won't ever see again," Tomoyo said. "You didn't know who it was, right?"

Sakura shook her head. "He called me by another girl's name and that's when I realised it wasn't Eriol."

"There you go. Even the guy you kissed won't know it was you. Everything that happened tonight will remain a secret between the two of us, okay?" Tomoyo sat down on Sakura's bed, her back leaned against the bedframe.

Sakura began to whimper more, shaking her head defiantly at Tomoyo's suggestion. "I– I can't do that to Eriol."

"You can," Tomoyo whispered, patting her lap, "and you will."

Sakura climbed onto the bed and rested her head on Tomoyo's lap. Silence fell upon them but neither of them had fallen asleep. The night's events ran through their minds.

"The thing that scares me the most is that I liked it," Sakura whispered, her arms tightening around Tomoyo's legs. "I liked the kiss."

Tomoyo inhaled sharply at the confession and ran her fingers through Sakura's hair.

"This kiss won't exist tomorrow," Tomoyo said. "Try to sleep, Sakura-chan. I'll be here for you. Always."

Half an hour later, Sakura's breathing grew deeper and Tomoyo's head lolled to the side of the bed-frame. They'd both fallen asleep.

* * *

Sakura stepped out of the shower. She felt like death and one glance at the mirror would tell her that she looked like it too. The shadows looming underneath her eyes were getting darker by the minute. She couldn't go to work looking like this, they'd think she took two tennis balls to the eyes if she did. Luck was on her side though, there wasn't anything that a bit of concealer couldn't hide.

"We're leaving in five minutes!" Tomoyo yelled as she knocked on the bathroom door.

They'd both fallen asleep on Sakura's bed last night after the fiasco that had occurred. It wasn't bothersome but it meant that Sakura woke up at the same time as Tomoyo – a mere two hours after they'd fallen asleep. She offered to drop her off at the school to avoid the headache that was Tokyo peak-hour public transport. Sakura gratefully accepted it.

Sakura didn't say much in the car ride to work. Her mind was too preoccupied with the stabbing pain that throbbed throughout her head whenever Tomoyo's tires screeched. It didn't stop Tomoyo from talking the whole ride.

"My bosses are going to look at my winter collection today," Tomoyo said as she fumbled with the car's heater. It was getting noticeably cooler now that December was approaching.

"Are you nervous?" Sakura asked, studying Tomoyo's face.

"A little bit." Tomoyo chewed on her bottom lip. "I'll be devastated if they don't like it but at least they're giving me a chance, right?"

"I'm sure they'll love it," Sakura said reassuringly. She had seen most, if not all, of Tomoyo's winter collection and she absolutely adored them. If Tomoyo didn't have to take them into work each day, she'd be wearing them herself.

Tomoyo smiled brightly as she pulled up at the front of the school. Before Sakura could get out of the car, Tomoyo touched her arm.

"Let's meet up for dinner tonight. My treat. I'll message you the details."

Sakura gently closed the door of Tomoyo's car, trying to make as little noise as possible. She agreed to meet Tomoyo for dinner. The end of the Halloween season meant no more late nights for Tomoyo but it won't last long. The end-of-year parties were just around the corner and those parties were just as grand.

It was exceptionally early by Sakura's standards. Tomoyo needed to go in early to finish the final touches to her pieces which meant Sakura had to go in early too if she wanted to avoid public transport. It didn't faze her though, she was no stranger to sleeping on a school desk.

She dragged her feet through the corridors until she reached her own. A sliver of light was shining underneath the classroom door. She was not alone.

"Good morning, Chiharu-chan," Sakura mumbled as she walked on autopilot to the desk.

Chiharu jumped at the greeting, surprised by the sudden intruder. She was always at school early, often getting ready for the day ahead. Though, for Sakura, two hours early was pushing it a bit.

"Good morning. You're here early," she said, a warm smile on her face.

"My roommate dropped me off," Sakura said, a big yawn followed. "Sorry, I went to a party last night but I won't let it affect my performance today."

Chiharu laughed at the formalities. "Been there, done that. Just make sure you leave the room if you're going to be sick." She picked up a marker and continued to write on the whiteboard. She wrote the activities planned for the day on one side of the board and in the middle, she drew up the first activity. Thankfully for Sakura, they were starting the day off with reading exercises.

Sakura folded her arms on the desk and laid her head upon them. Despite all of the water she had that morning and the Xanax Tomoyo had given her, her head was throbbing. She closed her eyes and drifted off. The first student wouldn't arrive for another hour.

On any other day, that would have been the case.

Two voices echoed outside of the classroom. It sounded like they were arguing but neither Chiharu nor Sakura could make out what they were saying. Sakura looked at the door and then to Chiharu who shrugged her shoulders. They'd both heard it. Chiharu placed her marker down and began to walk towards the door. Suddenly, the voices stopped and the door was pushed wide open.

Ryuu walked through, his face was flushed red and his hands were tight around the straps of his backpack. Behind him, a tall man followed, who Sakura recognised to be Li Syaoran, Ryuu's father. She didn't need to look directly, but she could see Chiharu out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was almost on the ground.

Sakura didn't blame her. Syaoran looked better every time she saw him. He looked crisp today in a black suit, tailored perfectly to his muscular frame. His hair was styled in a fashion that didn't look too uptight but it wasn't bed hair either. But the thing that stuck out the most to Sakura was that Ryuu's hair looked exactly the same. _Someone_ had helped him get ready for school today.

"Are you going to introduce me?" Syaoran asked, grinning down at his son's red face.

Ryuu ripped his glare away from his father and looked at his feet. He raised one finger and pointed at Chiharu, "This is Mihara-sensei," he mumbled, "and you already know Kinomoto-sensei." A muscle in Syaoran's jaw twitched at the reminder of their meeting last week. The meeting where Ryuu had heard everything.

Syaoran smiled as he walked over to Chiharu and extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mihara-san. I'm Ryuu's father, Li Syaoran," he said. The man exuded confidence. Confidence that was somewhat lacking in their previous meeting.

"The pleasure is all mine, Li-san. Ryuu is a lovely student, you must be very proud of him," Chiharu said. The flush creeping up on her neck didn't go unnoticed by Sakura.

"I'm extremely proud of him," he said as he ruffled the boy's hair. "I'm glad he hasn't caused any trouble in your class."

Any hope of hiding in the background died when his eyes locked with her own.

"May I speak with you in private, Kinomoto-san?" he asked, the confident tone unwavering.

Chiharu's head snapped to where Sakura was sitting. Her face was a mix of surprise and confusion.

"Uhh, sure," Sakura replied. The chair screeched on the floor as she pushed it back. As she turned to close the door, she caught a look from Chiharu that said something along the lines of _Oh my god_.

Syaoran was pacing up and down a small section of the corridor. Two fingers pinched the bridge of his nose as if he were deep in thought.

"Is there something you would like to talk about?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence. Her hands clasped together in front of her black skirt.

His eyes drifted down to her hands then to her skirt hemline and finally back up to her face.

"Yes, I would like to apologise for my behaviour last week. It was completely unacceptable of me." His tone was firm and genuine at the same time.

"It's okay, what I said to you was way out-of-line. I'm in no place to tell you those things," Sakura said gently.

"No, don't apologise. It was a much-needed wakeup call for me." His gaze dropped to her wrists, where he had held her last week. "Your wrists are– they're fine?" he asked with a tinge of hesitation.

She held her wrists up and flipped them to show both sides. "They're fine, no harm done. You don't have to worry about it."

A crease lined his eyebrows, his mouth set into a grim line. "I'm just– I don't do that sort of thing to women," His voice was low, hot and choked with emotion. "I didn't want to give the wrong impression. It's just—" He looked away and began his pacing again, fingers clutching the bone between his eyes again.

Leaning forward, she grabbed his hand and brushed the pads of her index and middle fingers along the back.

"I'm fine, Li-san. I know it's difficult to raise a child by yourself," Sakura said, aware of the intent stare he was sending her way. "My father raised me and my brother alone too."

The small smile that crossed his face sent a shiver down her spine.

"Thank you for sharing that with Ryuu," he said softly.

"It's no problem. If you need any help, I can– Mihara-san and I can help you," Sakura said as she retracted her hands, clasping them in front of her skirt again.

"Thank you, Kinomoto-san. It means a lot." His stare flickered from her hands to her face, a smile twisted on his face. "I see you enjoyed yourself last night."

Sakura took a step back, her face paling. Had he been there? Of course, it was his party. But had he seen her there with the other man? Panic filled her veins.

"Were you there last night?" Sakura asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her.

"Surely, I would be at my own party, Kinomoto-san. A dumb question, wouldn't you agree?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her reaction. The confidence that was absent only a few seconds ago was back in full force.

Sakura dipped her head. "It doesn't– You don't seem like you went to a party last night," she mumbled, embarrassed at the whole situation.

He tucked his hands into his pockets. "I don't need to get drunk to have a good time, Kinomoto-san," he said, leaning in closer so that his voice could only be heard by her, "and even if I did, I'd know how to hide it the next day."

Sakura jerked back, her face turning scarlet almost immediately. Apparently, her concealer didn't work as well as she thought. Puffing her cheeks out, she squinted her eyes at him.

Her reaction earned a low chuckle. "I'll see you at pick-up time then," he said, waving his hand before he spun around on his feet and walked out.

As he walked away, Sakura stood stuck in the place, staring daggers into his back. Crossing her arms over her body, she stormed back into the classroom.

"What did he want?" Chiharu asked, shuffling closer to the other girl. "He's so good looking. Are you friends with him?" Her voice was hushed now, quiet enough so Ryuu didn't hear.

Sakura ignored her questions and plopped onto her seat, dragging her hands over her face.

"Why are you ignoring me, Sakura-chan?" Chiharu moaned, placing her hands on the desk.

A tight-lipped smile crossed over Sakura's face before she opened her mouth.

"How did your dinner go with your fiancé's family?" Sakura asked, grinning at the transformation on Chiharu's face.

"You're no fun!" Chiharu chided, lightly pushing Sakura before she walked back to the whiteboard.

In all honestly, there wasn't much to tell her. Syaoran was Ryuu's father and Eriol's friend. An acquaintance of Sakura's now. She didn't know much else about him except that he owned a hotel and he struggled with raising Ryuu but she wouldn't tell Chiharu that. She wouldn't mention their first encounter either. It was clear that Syaoran didn't remember that night too – which was good. It would be her little secret. One that only she knew and well, one that only she and Tomoyo knew about.

* * *

The restaurant that Tomoyo wanted to have dinner at was a small little joint owned by an old couple. It was right in the middle between the school and Tomoyo's workplace which was convenient for both of them. It was surprising that they hadn't eaten there before.

Sakura took a seat at the front of the restaurant, the table was right next to a large window. Rain pelted against it and Sakura could see gusts of wind flying by outside. A bunch of high schoolers squealed when the gust lifted their skirts. Her eyes crinkled at the reaction before she turned her attention to the menu.

It was warm and cosy inside the restaurant. The heater was on and the scented candles placed on the tables made the whole room smell like vanilla. The scent was so strong that it hid the smell of the delicious food they were cooking in just one room over. It smelled more like a spa than a restaurant. If Tomoyo didn't arrive anytime soon, she would find Sakura fast asleep in the chair.

The ding of a bell caught Sakura's attention. It would ding every time a new customer entered the restaurant. Leaning on the side of her chair, she caught a glimpse of Tomoyo's long, black hair. Tomoyo was scanning the area, trying to find where Sakura was sitting. Once she locked eyes with Sakura, her blotchy pink skin and glassy eyes told Sakura everything she needed to know.

"Tomoyo-chan—" Sakura said softly, standing up to reach for her friend but she was stopped by Tomoyo's raised hand.

"They rejected them," she said, sadness lilting her voice. "All of them. They didn't like a single piece."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean they didn't like any of them? Your designs are amazing," Sakura said, her fists clenched. "I had people complimenting me all night at the party."

A brief smile touched Tomoyo's lips but it disappeared into a tight line. "I suppose I'll have to work harder next year," she said with a tone of finality.

"Did they tell you what they didn't like about them?" Sakura asked.

Tomoyo flipped through the menu, her gaze unmoving. "They said they were out-of-fashion and a poor man's choice of another brand." Her voice choked as she said the last words.

Sakura hopped out of her seat and went around to the other side of the table, wrapping her arms around Tomoyo's petite frame. Her fingers lightly brushed over her back. It was silent except for the few whimpers that left Tomoyo's mouth.

Between the sobs, she mumbled into Sakura's ear, "Did you hear from Eriol yet?"

Sakura shook her head and pulled back. She stared at Tomoyo's tear-stained face.

"Stop trying to change the subject," Sakura said. Even on one of the worst days of Tomoyo's life, she was still worrying about Sakura.

Tomoyo nodded and buried her face into her hands again. After a few seconds, she stood up and ran to the bathroom. She needed time to herself, to let out the emotions without feeling embarrassed or ashamed by it. Sakura would give that to her but at the same time, she worried. If their places were traded, Tomoyo would have been there in an instant. Sakura stood up to chase her into the bathroom but her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and across the screen flashed _Eriol_ with a heart emoji next to his name.

Her eyes flickered to the bathroom door and back to the phone. She clicked the green button.

"Eriol?"

"Sakura," he breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm so sorry I haven't called. The phone company couldn't transfer my number over in time so I haven't been able to receive calls or messages since I left Japan on Friday."

"You didn't receive anything?" she asked. She had sent him plenty of texts over the weekend but if he hadn't seen any of them, that only meant that he knew nothing of what happened.

"Nope, they probably bounced back if you sent anything. Were you worried for me?" There was a hint of mischief within his voice. It was the tone he used when he wanted to be playful.

"I was a bit concerned…" she said, biting her lip. She didn't want to bring up the party or the kiss or anything that had transpired that weekend.

"I just got off the phone with Ryuu's father. I can't believe he didn't remember the Halloween event until I asked him about it now." His voice did a complete 180. It was seething, angry. "I can't even begin to imagine how upset Ryuu had been."

"He was fine," Sakura said softly, not wanting to cause any more anger. "Hana-chan shared her Mickey Mouse ears with him."

He didn't reply immediately and Sakura checked the screen to see if the call was still connected. A few seconds later, he exhaled a deep breath he had been holding.

"Well thank god for that but I'm still going to kick his ass when I get back," he bit out a laugh but it had no traces of humour. "Did he at least remember to give you the invitation to the party? I wanted to go with you but well, I'm here so—"

"Yes, he gave it to me. It– it was fun," she said, her hand touched her lips. "I had a good time, thank you."

"I'm glad. I'll make it up to you when I get back though." Sakura could hear his smile through the phone.

Tomoyo exited the bathroom, her face wet and her shoulders sagged. The water washed away all of her makeup and yet, she still looked beautiful. She hugged herself tightly around her stomach as if she would fall apart if someone laid a finger on her.

"I have to go now, Eriol," Sakura said quickly, "I'm having dinner with Tomoyo-chan."

"Ah right, it must be late there. I'll call you tomorrow then. Good night, Sakura," he murmured, a hint of disappointed laced in his tone.

Sakura brought the phone down and clicked the red button. She looked back to Tomoyo whose eyes were stuck on Sakura's phone.

"Eriol?" she asked. Sakura wouldn't be able to hide anything from her. Nothing escaped Tomoyo.

Sakura nodded. "Do you want to go home?"

Tomoyo bobbed her chin. She linked her arm with Sakura's and held her tightly. No matter what went wrong or how bad things turned out, they always had each other to lean on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. If I haven't made it clear enough, Tomoyo is VERY protective over Sakura and that's the reason for many of her decisions. I know some of you will be against Tomoyo's decision to keep it a secret but well, she doesn't really know Eriol here. How do you feel about the usage of -kun, -chan in the story? I don't know if I'm using them right and I can easily take them out but I added them in since relationship formalities are important in Japan. Let me know what you think!


	8. Running Partners

The sound of impatient steps bounced off the walls in the empty classroom. Syaoran and Ryuu had arrived early again and it was all thanks to the former's busy schedule. Syaoran paced up and down at the front of the classroom, his hand idly scrolling through the emails and messages he had received overnight. Ryuu was seated at his designated table and had been working on a drawing since they arrived 15 minutes earlier. Every now and then, Syaoran would glance down at his watch and follow the second-hand ticking around the platinum-plated circle.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can help you with, Li-san?" Chiharu asked. She was sitting at the teacher's desk, working on some of the files before class started.

Syaoran's gaze drifted from his watch over to where she was sitting. A kind smile spread across his face.

"I'm almost certain, Mihara-san. I came here to see Kinomoto-san," he replied. "She won't be too much longer, will she?"

Chiharu checked the clock above the whiteboard on the wall and shook her head. "Uh, no. She should be here in around five minutes."

"I'll wait then, thank you," Syaoran said.

Chiharu gave him a polite smile and continued to shuffle the papers she had on her desk. One would think that a first-grade teacher wouldn't have much work to do, but they were in for a surprise.

Syaoran strolled over to Ryuu's table and plopped onto the chair beside his son. He shifted sideways, trying to find a comfortable position but it was to no use. The chair was too small for a man of his size. His legs were so far bent that the bottom of his chin was nearly resting on his knees. He adjusted himself for a couple more seconds but eventually gave up. He crossed his arms over the tops of his knees and watched Ryuu draw.

"What are you drawing?" Syaoran asked. His eyes narrowed at the paper on the table as he tried to decipher what was on it.

His question was met with no response. It stalled in the air until it became clear that Ryuu wasn't going to answer it. Only the sound of Ryuu's pencil gliding across the paper could be heard.

"Ryuu," Syaoran said with a firm tone. "It's impolite to ignore someone when they ask you a question."

Ryuu slowly turned his head to face his father. His big amber-coloured eyes blinked once.

"It's nothing."

Syaoran huffed at the response and leaned back in the tiny chair. He wasn't going to test his luck with Ryuu any further today. The young boy wasn't used to having him around all the time and he made it blatantly clear that he didn't like it. But this is all the stuff Eriol used to do and now he had to do it until he was back. Only one question remained, when was Eriol coming back?

The classroom door swung wide open and Syaoran's eyes flashed in that direction instantly. Much to his disappointment, it wasn't Sakura walking through the door. Instead, it was a young girl around Ryuu's age. A classmate he assumed. The young girl's eyes were directly on Syaoran as she approached the table.

"Good morning, Ryuu-kun!" the girl said cheerfully.

"Hello Hana-chan," Ryuu replied but he didn't bother to look up from his drawing.

Syaoran's eyes flickered between the two children. The toothy grin that overtook the girl's face and Ryuu's rose-tinted cheeks didn't go unnoticed. He bit back a smile as the young girl sat down across from him. Syaoran placed his phone on the table and leaned forward to capture Hana's attention.

"Good morning, are you Ryuu's friend?" Syaoran asked, his voice was warm and inviting.

Hana turned her attention to Syaoran now. She gave him the same smile that she had given Ryuu only moments before.

"Yep! We're best friends," she answered. "Are you Mihara-sensei's friend?"

Syaoran managed to repress his laugh that was threatening to escape his mouth. The girl had only spoken a couple of words to him and he already knew that she wasn't the brightest kid in the class. Anyone who had seen Syaoran and Ryuu next to each other would be able to tell that they're related.

"Actually, I'm his father," Syaoran replied with a smile.

Hana's soft pink lips parted just slightly at the information. Her head tossed back and forth between Syaoran and Ryuu, studying their features all at once. A couple seconds later, Syaoran could've sworn a light bulb appeared above her head.

"You have the same hair," she said as she tugged on her own hair. "Me and my mama have the same hair too."

Syaoran's eyes darted towards Ryuu at the mention of Hana's mother but he showed no reaction. It was a relief considering what had happened on the night of the ice cream incident.

"This looks better than the dinosaur you drew the other day, Ryuu-kun," Hana said. She was leaning over the table now, trying to get a better look picture.

Syaoran looked at the paper again and a hard line delved between his brows as he tried to find the shape of a dinosaur.

"It's not a dinosaur, Hana-chan," Ryuu grumbled. "It's a dragon. I told you that."

"I thought they were the same thing," Hana said in a soft voice. Her toothy grin was starting to falter.

"You can hardly call that a dragon, Ryuu," Syaoran said bluntly.

A burst of giggles escaped Hana's mouth at the comment. Little did she know that it wasn't the nicest thing to say about a drawing.

Ryuu wasn't stupid though. He instantly stopped his drawing and lightly placed the pencil he had been using down on the table. Ryuu pushed back his chair and stood up, taking the drawing with him. Syaoran's gaze cautiously followed Ryuu, only to watch him scrunch up the drawing and throw it in the bin.

"Ryuu, you didn't have to do that," Syaoran blurted out. He dragged his hand down his face. So much for not pushing Ryuu today.

Ryuu walked over to the bookshelf and picked up the first book he could reach and returned to the table.

"Ryuu–"

Syaoran was cut off by the door slamming into the wall. The clicks of heels echoed into the classroom. Syaoran threw his head back to look at what caused the commotion and instantly locked eyes with Sakura.

Sakura tilted her head slightly to the right. "Is everything alright, Li-san?" she asked as she eyed him sitting on the chair that could break under his weight any moment.

Syaoran stood up quickly, knocking the chair over in the process. He winced at the noise of the plastic chair clashing with the tiles on the floor and bent over to pick it up. With his face slightly red, he looked at Sakura who was clearly trying to muffle her own laughter.

"I needed to talk to you about something," Syaoran said, his head nodding towards the door. "Preferably in private."

Sakura's grip tightened around her satchel. Had someone mentioned something about her?

"Um, sure. I'll just put my things down," she said. "I'll meet you out there shortly."

Sakura scurried to the teacher's desk where Chiharu had been sitting. The look on her face told Sakura that she had been watching the whole interaction.

"What did he want?" Chiharu asked. Even though her face looked like she'd just been laughing, her voice was lilted with concern. More often than not, if a parent wanted to speak to a teacher, it usually meant something bad.

"I'll let you know when I find out." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows as she placed her bag under the table. She couldn't think of what Syaoran would want from her that Chiharu couldn't help him with. Eriol hadn't mentioned anything during their phone call yesterday either. Maybe it was something about Ryuu or… maybe someone had seen her at the party and told him… Her face paled at the thought of it.

Sakura gently closed the door behind her. She found Syaoran leaning against the corridor wall opposite her. Children were beginning to fill the hallways as the clock ticked down to the start of the school day. Syaoran didn't notice her at first when she entered the hallway. Instead, his gaze was fixated on a mother and her child in an embrace at the end of the corridor.

"Li-san," Sakura said softly, trying to grab his attention. "What is it that you'd like to talk about?"

Syaoran's head snapped in her direction, his hand instinctively began to rub the back of his neck.

"Eriol called me yesterday," he paused for a moment, carefully choosing his words. "He informed me that I'd forgotten about a school event the other day so I'm here to see if there's anything I can do to make up for it."

Sakura nodded slowly. Eriol did bring up Syaoran forgetting about the Halloween event in their phone call too.

"You want to become more involved with the school?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, something like that." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Eriol said a donation wouldn't suffice so I came here to ask if there was anything–"

Sakura cut him off.

"We're short one chaperone for the excursion to the Tokyo museum," she said quickly but stopped abruptly when she saw the look of surprise etched across his face. "But that might be too much for your schedule. Umm…"

Syaoran shook his head. "No, no, that sounds fine," he said with a gentle smile. "When is this excursion happening?"

"It's on Thursday this week," Sakura said slowly, her eyebrow quirked up at the question. "We sent a circular home last week with all of the details."

"Ah, of course. It must've slipped my mind," Syaoran said. "The day suits me perfectly."

Sakura smiled brightly. "Really? It'll be great for Ryuu if you could come. I'm sure he'll–"

A loud noise resonated from Syaoran's pocket. The cell phone in his hand lit up. He looked down and shot an apologetic look to Sakura.

"I need to answer this, sorry. It's my secretary."

"That's fine, Li-san. I hope to see you at the excursion," Sakura said. She bowed her head and returned to the classroom while Syaoran clicked the green button and answered the call.

"I was held up at the primary school. I'll be there soon," he muttered into the phone. "And Kana, cancel all of my appointments scheduled for this Thursday. Something important came up."

The faint sound of a feminine gasp could be heard from the classroom door. Syaoran glanced over his shoulder to see who the noise came from but with nothing in sight, he shook his head and returned to his cell phone. He was probably just imagining it anyway.

* * *

Sakura's nails tapped on the desk as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. It was lunch time so all the children were out of the classroom but Chiharu had asked her to check the RSVPs for the excursion on Thursday so she was stuck inside for today. The days were passing by so quickly. It felt like it was only yesterday when she moved to Tokyo but sooner than later, it'll be Christmas then New Years and then her birthday in April.

"Sakura-chan," a soft voice whispered. A hand waved up and down in front of Sakura's eyes.

She snapped her eyes shut and then looked at the owner of the hand.

"Tomoyo-chan," she said with a slight inflection in her voice.

She smiled softly and sat down in the chair she pulled up to the desk. "You forgot that I was coming in for lunch today," she stated. Her tongue darted across her bottom lip. "I should've called to remind you."

Tomoyo placed two bento boxes on the desk and pushed one over to Sakura.

Sakura shook her head quickly. "No, I was just thinking about something."

Concern washed over Tomoyo's face as she took off the lid from her bento box. "Of Eriol-kun, I hope," she said while popping a piece of food into her mouth.

The conversation from the other night was still fresh in their minds. Sakura rolled her eyes at the comment but Tomoyo was too busy eating to notice it.

"No. Something happened this morning when I arrived at work," Sakura said. She snapped her wooden chopsticks apart and picked up a piece of chicken.

"What happened this morning?" Her question came instantly.

"Li-san came in," Sakura began. "He wants to become more involved with the school."

Tomoyo nodded slowly, placing another rice ball into her mouth. After she finished chewing, she placed her chopsticks down.

"Does he want to become more involved with the school or more involved with you?" she asked with a blank face.

Sakura choked on the piece of food that was in her mouth and began coughing. She grabbed her water and washed it down with ease. Sakura looked at Tomoyo's face to see if she was joking but it was clear that she wasn't.

"What do you mean become more involved with me? I'm dating Eriol–"

"Any other rich businessman would've just sent a donation in their company's name," Tomoyo pointed out. "But Li-san seems like he wants to spend more time with you."

Sakura scoffed at the comment. "It has nothing to do with me. If anything, he wants to spend more time with Ryuu. From what he said, it sounds like Eriol-kun made him do it anyway."

"Mhmmm." Tomoyo smiled with her mouth full. She wasn't convinced at all by what Sakura had said.

"How was your morning at the store?" Sakura asked, swiftly changing the topic before Tomoyo finished her mouthful.

"I took the day off," Tomoyo said. "After our talk yesterday, I decided to show my creations to other designers."

A huge grin took over Sakura's face. "Really? That's great news! Do you know how long it will be before you hear back from someone?"

Sakura had encouraged her to send her designs to other people after the rejection yesterday. There had to be something wrong with that dress shop if they rejected Tomoyo three times already. To be honest, she was wasting her time at that shop. If she had left there years ago, there was no doubt she would already have her own store. At least, that's what Sakura thought.

Tomoyo tapped her chopsticks against the bottom of her chin. "I'm not sure. I've only taken them to people based in Tokyo so I can travel there from our apartment."

"You shouldn't restrict yourself to only Tokyo, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said. "If it's your dream, you should chase it no matter where it takes you."

Tomoyo laughed. "Of course, but I'm comfortable here in Tokyo so hopefully, someone out there will like them."

"I'm sure one person will," Sakura said reassuringly.

There's a moment of silence as both girls tuck into their meals. Tomoyo was great at a lot of things but one skill that Sakura truly appreciated her for was her cooking. They needed to have lunch together more often if it meant Tomoyo would be bringing her something.

"What did you and Eriol-kun talk about on the phone yesterday?" Tomoyo asked as she placed her water down.

"He asked me if I enjoyed the party," Sakura mumbled, keeping her eyes on the computer screen.

Tomoyo froze for a moment, gauging Sakura's face. "Did our secret remain a secret?"

"Yep."

Another stretch of silence followed. Tomoyo looked around the classroom wistfully as she thought over the whole situation.

"Did he tell you when he's coming back to Japan?" she asked.

"No but when he left he said he could be gone for either a week or a couple of months," Sakura replied, recounting the conversation she had the day Eriol told her about his annual meetings in Europe. It came as a surprise to her that they could take so much time but then again, she didn't realise how many companies he was a part of.

"I hope he's home before Christmas or else you'll be all alone." Tomoyo furrowed her brows. "Maybe you could come with me to visit my family."

"No, it'll be awkward if I go with you," Sakura said outright. "I'll be fine by myself."

Tomoyo frowned, clearly upset by that response. "Are you sure you can't spend it with your father or brother?"

"It's too expensive to travel overseas just to see them for Christmas," Sakura said as she started to wrap up the bento box. "Don't worry about it. It's only Christmas."

Tomoyo pursed her lips and placed the bento boxes in the bag she came in with. The expression on her face told Sakura that the topic wasn't over yet. Tomoyo glanced at her watch and stood up.

"I should probably go now. There are a couple of designers I haven't met with yet," Tomoyo said. "Will you be home for dinner?"

"I don't think so. I was planning to go for a run after work since I was quite slack over the weekend," Sakura said. It was true. The whole party fiasco took up the entire weekend and she hadn't been able to go for a run since last Friday.

Tomoyo stopped in her tracks and squinted her eyes for a moment before bursting into a giggle.

"The half-marathon, I remember," she said while laughing. She thought it was stupid but that was only because she wasn't athletic herself.

Tomoyo's hair bounced with each step as she approached the door.

"You can come if you want to!" Sakura yelled out to her.

Tomoyo looked over her shoulder, her eyes glistening with mirth. "I think I'll be busy but thanks for the invite."

Sakura shook her head while laughing. If there was one thing she'd never accomplish during her lifetime, it would be getting Tomoyo to exercise.

* * *

Sakura slowed down her run into a light jog as she ran the path alongside the local grass field. She watched the sun go down behind the field posts. A few minutes later, the floodlights on either side of the field turned on and shone brightly down upon the children's soccer teams who were practicing tonight. She didn't normally run this way when she was training but she'd run out of water nearly a kilometre ago and the sporting fields were closer than her apartment.

Her light jog turned into a walk. Her arms were lifted in the air, holding her head as she limped her way towards the water fountains. She watched the children running around on the field with envy. That used to be her. Young and fit – doing any sport and every sport available. The problem wasn't that she was old now. In fact, 24 is hardly what one would consider to be old age. The problem was that her knee made her feel old.

It ached whenever she did sports. It ached whenever she ran for long distances but she kept doing it despite it. Exercising made her feel stronger; like she could do anything and nothing was going to stop her. But each step felt like a nail was being hammered into the bones that formed her knee. Sakura shut her eyes tightly as she walked through the pain. But her knee wasn't the only problem today.

"Are you okay?"

It was a man's voice. Someone familiar to her. Sakura opened her eyes and blinked. Her vision was disjointed and slowly receding to the point where she couldn't make sense of the world around her. Through the edges of her vision, she could see someone running towards her. It was a man but she didn't know who. The path ahead of her seemed to run like fresh paint with each step but she didn't stop. She needed water. No. She needed to sit down.

"Hey, I got you," the man said. His voice was warm and caring. It reminded her of Tomoyo's voice when she helped her the night of the party.

The man's hands were under her arms, holding her up straight. Sakura shook her head and blinked a couple of times to clear her vision. She tipped her head back and met a very familiar pair of eyes. A pair she'd seen earlier that day.

"Are you following me, Li-san?" Sakura asked as she pushed away his arms. The last thing she wanted to happen was to run into someone she knew during one of her runs. It only took a few hundred metres for her to look like crap.

He didn't throw his head back and laugh. He didn't flick her on the forehead and call her conceited either. Instead he stared at her, his face inches away from hers.

"A thank you would've been sufficient." His response came smooth. He pointed a finger to the children playing soccer on the field. "If you weren't so busy with nearly fainting on the sidewalk, you might've noticed that I'm here for Ryuu."

"Could've fooled me," Sakura muttered under her breath. The smile Syaoran had on his face faded in an instant. It was replaced with a clear and even expression.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is–"

"I see Eriol likes to talk about me," he said with a hint of annoyance. He let out a sigh. "Come with me before you pass out again."

He spun around on his foot and walked a couple of metres from where he had helped her. Sakura followed closely behind him as he led the way. There was a silver Mercedes parked around ten metres from where she'd nearly fainted. He had to have ran fast to have caught her in time.

"Sit here," he ordered as he tapped on the hood of the car.

Sakura looked at the hood with hesitation and back to Syaoran who disappeared around the side of the car. The car had to be worth at least $100,000 or more and he was allowing her to sit on it. He must've gone mad.

"Just sit, Kinomoto-san. You're as light as a feather," he said before ducking his head into the car.

Sakura sat down with a bit of reluctance and looked at the distance before her. She had a clear view of where the children's soccer team was playing. She squinted her eyes and scanned the crowd, trying to find Ryuu but they all looked the same in their matching blue and white uniforms. Not far from where the children were practicing, a group of young women sat on the spectator benches.

Syaoran joined her again, sitting down on the hood beside her. He extended his hand to hers with a water bottle in his hand. Sakura lowered her eyes to the water bottle and tilted her head. Syaoran let out a small huff and pushed the bottle into her hands.

"It's all clean, your highness," he said with only a small curve to the corners of his mouth.

Sakura tried to bite back her smile but it didn't work. Syaoran was the last person she would expect to have a sense of humour. She unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a much-needed swig of water.

"Sorry for what I said earlier," Sakura said softly. "I've been a bit distracted lately."

Syaoran merely nodded and continued to watch the field where the children were beginning to set up for a mini game. He didn't say anything more to her while they sat next to each other and he didn't go on his phone either. Unlike him, Sakura's eyes were purely focussed on him.

"Li-san…" Her voice trailed off as she thought twice about what she was going to say.

"Mmm?" Again, his gaze didn't move from the field.

"For what it's worth, I think Eriol-kun is wrong about you," she said, her eyes glued to the concrete ahead of her. "You're trying really hard and I'm sure Ryuu appreciates the effort."

"Thank you." He didn't look particularly convinced but Sakura could see a faint smile lingering on his lips and that was enough for her.

He didn't say anymore and neither did Sakura. She continued to sip from the water bottle he had given her and rub her knee with her fingertips. The children had finally finished their drills and were playing an actual soccer game now. It was clear to Sakura which child was Ryuu now. He was all over the ball, covering the field left and right. The biggest indicator was the large smile that broke out on Syaoran's face whenever the child with the 09-jersey scored.

"Why aren't you sitting over there with the other parents?" Sakura asked as she pointed at the spectator benches on the side of the field.

Syaoran gave her a side-glance and reached up to scratch the stubble with his last three fingers.

"How many men do you see over there, Kinomoto-san?" he asked.

Her eyes narrowed on the spectator benches on the side of the field once again. After scanning a couple of the people there, she knew what the problem was.

"Zero."

"Exactly. They end up paying more attention to me than to their kids." He let out a bitter laugh. "It only took me one practice to realise why no men attended."

The shape his mouth took after he finished talking made a bittersweet sensation go through Sakura's heart. She couldn't help but think: Poor Syaoran.

As if he were reading her mind, Syaoran said, "Don't worry about Ryuu. He specifically asked me to stay away anyway." Syaoran picked up his phone and started to tap against the screen. "I'm sure he just wants all the attention to himself."

Syaoran laughed at the comment and Sakura laughed with him albeit a bit awkwardly. She didn't know him for a long time but the blank expression on his face as he laughed told her everything she needed to know – he was forcing it.

"He plays really well," Sakura said with a shy note in her voice.

Syaoran nodded at her. "Star player of his team." The underused corners of his mouth tipped up just a little. "Just like me when I played in high school."

"Do you still play?" Sakura asked. It wasn't a surprise to her that he was athletic. Just one glance at the man and she knew he worked out.

"No. I don't have a lot of time to spare between work and Ryuu these days," he replied. "What about you?"

Sakura's eyes lit up at the question and an uncontrollable smile took over her face. "I used to be on the cheerleading squad and I participated in every track and field event at school," she blabbered on mindlessly. "I used to roller-skate every morning too. I'd always follow my brother and his friend on the way to school."

"Is that how you hurt your knee?" he asked, his eyes looking straight at the knee where her hand was rubbing.

"Uh how– how did you know?" Sakura stuttered her words. She hadn't mentioned her knee to anyone she'd met in Tokyo so far. And definitely not Syaoran.

"I saw you limping down the sidewalk for about five minutes and you haven't stopped rubbing it since you sat down," he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura sighed. "Nothing escapes your eye, does it?"

Syaoran shrugged and raised his eyebrows at her, urging her to explain what happened to her knee.

"I'm somewhat clumsy–"

He couldn't help but snicker at the beginning of her story. Sakura shot him a glare and shut her mouth almost immediately.

"Sorry, please continue," he said while managing to keep a straight face.

"At the end of my final year of high school, a boy riding a bike crashed into me on the way home and I landed in a concrete ditch with his bicycle on top of me," she said in a small voice. "My knee has been pretty bad since then. The doctors recommended surgery but my family couldn't afford it so they told me to stop exercising instead."

His chest puffed out as if he was having trouble breathing. "Why are you running then?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said, shaking her head. "It's a dumb reason."

"I've heard plenty of dumb ideas in my line of work," he urged her on.

After a few moments, she let out a shaky breath and answered him, "I'm training for a half-marathon."

Syaoran tilted his head to the side, his eyes were wide open looking at her as if she had lost her mind. "You're training for a half-marathon by yourself?"

Sakura bobbed her head up and down. "Well, Eriol-kun doesn't seem like the athletic type and Tomoyo-chan can't even walk up stairs without complaining."

Syaoran chuckled and nodded in agreement with the Eriol comment. "Is this Tomoyo-chan your colleague?"

"No, she's my best friend who I happen to live with," Sakura replied.

"Do they know you're training for this?" His question came smooth and casual.

"Tomoyo-chan knows about it but I haven't mentioned anything about it to Eriol-kun…"

He made a sound in his throat and nodded. He didn't say anything more to her. Instead, he continued to scroll down his phone, tapping away at the screen. Sakura couldn't see exactly what he was doing and it was rude to stare anyway so she watched the soccer game which was coming to an end. The silence ate up minutes before he finally spoke:

"I'll join you for a run after the museum trip."

"Ehh?" Sakura's jaw dropped at the comment. Just a moment ago he told her that he didn't have the time for sports and now he was inviting himself to her daily run.

Syaoran didn't say any further on the topic. He slipped his phone into his pocket and stood up.

"Over here, Ryuu!" Syaoran yelled out, waving his right hand in the air.

Sakura hadn't noticed that practice had ended after what Syaoran had said. As Ryuu walked over, Sakura stood up next to him and handed the bottle back into his hand.

"Thanks for this. I should probably head home now," she said. Sakura spun around on her feet and started to walk away but she didn't get too far. A strong hand pulled her back in.

"If you think I'm going to let you run home by yourself at this time of the day then you're terribly mistaken," he whispered. "I can take you home. It's the least I can do for Eriol's girlfriend."

A blush crept up her neck and she looked away from the amber eyes that were staring at her.

"And what if I say no?" she asked, pulling her mouth into a tight line.

He raised his chin, his gaze meeting her own again.

"If you run away from me, Kinomoto-san. I'll run after you and I'll catch you," he said. "I'm not the one with the injured knee after all."

Sakura puffed out her cheeks and sat back down in defeat. He was right. There was no way she'd be able to outrun him – even if she hadn't run already. For someone who didn't have the time to play sports, he looked fit.

"Kinomoto-sensei?" Ryuu asked. He was standing behind Syaoran, confusion was written all over his face. She couldn't blame him for his confusion though. It was a student's worst nightmare to see their teacher outside of school.

"Hello, Ryuu. How are you?" Sakura asked, smiling at the boy.

"Good…" His voice trailed off. He tugged on the hemline of Syaoran's shirt. "Dad, what's happening?" He was trying to keep his voice quiet but Sakura still heard him nonetheless.

"We're taking Kinomoto-san home today," he said. "She ran all the way here and now she's too tired to run back home."

Sakura frowned at the excuse he gave to Ryuu. She was perfectly capable of running home but she didn't want to be chased down by the man who stood before her.

Syaoran took Ryuu's bag and swung it over his shoulder. He walked around to the boot of the car and placed the bag there.

"Ryuu, you're in the backseat for today," he yelled from the back of the car.

Ryuu looked at Sakura with a blank expression on his face but she could see hints of confusion and suspicion. Sakura could understand how he was feeling. Syaoran and her had spoken a lot over the past two weeks and now he was driving her home. It probably made things even more confusing knowing that she was dating Eriol.

Syaoran slammed the boot of the car and came up to the passenger's door where Sakura was. He opened it and stepped aside.

"After you, your highness," he said with his hand gesturing towards the car.

Fractures of Sakura's grin cracked into bigger pieces and she shook her head. "Please don't call me that."

"Whatever you want, princess," he said. He slammed the car door before she could reply.

Sakura looked over her shoulder and saw Ryuu playing with his Gameboy in the backseat. The car smelled exactly like Syaoran. It was the sweet, rich scent of sandalwood but it wasn't overpowering. Syaoran jumped in the driver's seat and inserted the keys into the ignition. The engine hummed and the lights lit up across the dash board. Syaoran turned his head to her.

"So, where are we off to?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if there are any mistakes. Your feedback and comments are welcome.
> 
> Hello! I don't really have an excuse for this chapter being so late. Not many authors will tell you this but I'll let you in on a little secret – writing is fucking hard LOL I personally apologise for how poorly written this chapter is. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I'll try to fix it up in the future. Tbh, I think I'll fix all chapters when I complete the story. I was reading chapter 1 the other day and I couldn't stop cringing. I'll admit that it was cliché for Sakura to just bump into Syaoran at a random park in Tokyo but LMAO that's how it's going to be OKAY! I'm working on the next chapter as I upload this so it should be up next week.
> 
> I feel like this story is a bit westernised but I can't help that because I'm western. I'm sorry if some of the dialogue or how stuff works isn't authentic or 'Japanese' enough. I'm open to suggestions!


	9. Downtime

**November 2016**

Syaoran's face was inches away from the bathroom mirror. It was the break of dawn and only the soft murmurs of children's cartoon shows could be heard throughout the hotel suite. With a steady hand, he gently dragged the razor down his jaw, removing the hair and foam that had been there.

Growing facial hair wasn't a regular habit for Syaoran and he most definitely didn't grow it out on purpose. It was often, as it was on this day, the result of many sleepless nights. Between his position at his company and taking care of Ryuu around the clock, he simply didn't have the time to take care of himself.

Today was an exception to that.

As requested, all his appointments had been cancelled to allow him to attend the excursion to the Tokyo museum. Syaoran had been there for various galas, auctions, and any event that sought the attention of someone with his status. An excursion had never fallen into any of those categories until today. Not only did he not know what to expect, but he was also completely unaware as to what to wear.

The silence that he loved descended upon him again. With each stroke, a new patch of clean skin appeared. It was therapeutic - almost relaxing.

That was until a loud crash rang through the apartment.

"Fuck," he grounded out through his teeth. A light stream of blood began to drip down his cheek and along his jaw. Syaoran dropped the razor onto the marble countertop and rushed over to rip a piece of toilet paper off the roll.

"Ryuu, was that you?" Syaoran yelled as he wiped the remaining shaving cream off his face with a wet cloth. The piece of toilet paper that he had placed on the cut was now sodden with blood.

"Ryuu?" he yelled again from the doorway to his en-suite. The cartoons that Ryuu had been watching still echoed down the hallway but there wasn't a word from the boy.

A frown washed over Syaoran's features. Sure, they didn't have the the best relationship and Syaoran wasn't expecting a 'dad of the year' award anytime soon but Ryuu had never been the child to ignore him outright. Especially if his name was called more than once - he knew better than that.

Syaoran threw the wet cloth into the basin and raced out of his room. He wasn't sure what he would find but he had an inkling feeling that something had gone wrong.

The carefully controlled mask that had regularly graced Syaoran's face morphed into one that barely contained the panic lurking behind his eyes.

"Ryuu," he said between clenched teeth. "Put those down and get back on the couch."

Orange juice was spread far and wide across the wooden floor. Tiny bits of glass flickered in the light and blended into the mass of liquid. Ryuu slowly placed the shards of glass that he was holding back onto the floor. With two careful steps, Ryuu was back onto the couch. Safe.

"Dad?" Ryuu's voice was hesitant and soft but it cut right through Syaoran's thoughts.

Syaoran ran his fingers through his now messy hair and squeezed the back of his neck.

"I'll get the uh– dustpan," he said. "Don't touch the glass."

Not a second was wasted when Syaoran left the room. He went directly to the kitchen and frantically began his search for the dustpan. Though, there was one small problem - he didn't know where the cleaning supplies were kept in his apartment. One of the perks of owning the hotel meant that he had people to clean for him.

He opened cabinet after cabinet and not a single dustpan or broom was in sight – he couldn't even find something as basic as a trash bag. A flurry of thoughts ran through his head until the realisation hit him. He had never bought cleaning supplies when he moved in all those years ago. There was no need for them since he rarely spent time here unless Eriol was out of town.

Spinning around, he rested his back against the countertop and closed his eyes. All the things that his mother and Eriol had complained about in the past were starting to make sense for him. An apartment – this apartment – was not safe for a child. He had become dependent on others to take care of his home – if he could even call it a home, that is. It was no wonder that Ryuu preferred to stay at Eriol's house than the hotel suite.

Syaoran reached over for the telephone and pushed in a familiar code. After a few rings, a female voice answered.

"Syaoran?"

He let out a sigh of relief at the sound of her voice.

"Mei, I need you to come up here with the cleaning cart."

"Did something happen?" she asked. Syaoran had known Mei for what seemed like forever. They weren't related but she was someone who he would consider as family.

"There's glass all over the floor and I have nothing to clean it up with," he replied.

The laugh that burst out of her made a muscle in Syaoran's jaw twitch.

"I'll be right up."

Syaoran placed the phone back onto the receiver and returned to the other room where he found Ryuu slumped on the couch.

A deep sigh that escaped his lips. It was only the beginning of the day and he was already exhausted.

"Jump over the back here. Mei is coming up to clean it up," he said. He could feel the tension and fear rolling off Ryuu in waves and it was all over a broken cup.

Ryuu handed the cereal bowl to Syaoran and climbed over the back of the couch. They moved into the kitchen where there was a round glass table. It was hardly used these days and if Syaoran's mother found out, she'd probably have a heart attack. Eating meals without the family was something she'd always been strongly against.

"Let me see." Syaoran reached toward Ryuu's hands and flipped them over. A smear of red blood covered his right hand. A shard of glass had sliced skin and one glance at his pyjamas pants told Syaoran where he had been wiping it. In hindsight, at least he didn't wipe it on the couch.

Syaoran pulled his lips into a tight line as he inspected the cut. "Why did you pick up the glass?" he asked.

"I didn't want you to be angry at me," Ryuu said in a small voice.

There was another drawn-out sigh and the sound of a door – the front door probably – being opened.

"We're in here," Syaoran yelled as he stood up. It had to be Mei. She was the only person he knew who would never knock before entering his apartment.

Heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Is the mess in here?" Mei asked. She dropped a basket of cleaning products on the kitchen bench. Syaoran turned around to speak to her but before he could say anything, she blurted out, "What happened to you? You look like uh–" Her eyes flickered to Ryuu behind him. "You look unwell." She finished awkwardly.

"It's in the lounge room in front of the television," Syaoran said, ignoring her comment about his appearance. "Where do we keep the band-aids?"

Mei shot him a look of confusion. "They're above the sink in the main bathroom. They're not very appropriate for you though…"

"It's not for me," he said, shaking his head. "Ryuu was the one who dropped the glass." Syaoran left the room and started to head towards the bathroom. Much to his surprise, Mei trailed behind him.

"What's wrong with you?" Her voice was hushed but he could still hear the shrill within it.

"Hmm?" Syaoran threw his head over his shoulder to look at Mei who had both of her hands on her hips.

"You can't give a glass cup to an eight-year-old child, Syaoran," she yelled at him in a whisper. "They have butterfingers. Everything slips through their little hands."

Syaoran blew out a deep breath that made his lips flutter in exasperation. "I realise that now." He wiped the stream of blood rolling down his chin with his forearm.

"Christ, Syaoran." She pushed him aside and opened the cabinet where the band-aids were kept. "There's plastic tableware in the kitchen for Ryuu but let me guess, you didn't know where that was either." She pushed the box of band-aids into his hands.

That comment alone made his eye twitch. His hands clutched the rounded edge of the countertop, his knuckles turning white as Mei continued to talk.

"That's what I thought," she said as she turned around. "The tableware is in the cabinet next to the fridge by the way."

"Get out." It was the only thing that left his mouth.

Mei folded her arms across her chest and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

He slashed his hand across the air, angry. "Get the fuck out of here and send someone else to clean it up."

Disappointment crossed her face but she said nothing more. She left him alone in the bathroom without a word. Syaoran looked at himself in the mirror. Where had he gone wrong? The darkness looming under his eyes was becoming more and more prominent after weeks of sleepless nights. Blood continued to drip down his chin from where the razor had cut earlier. He wiped it off and returned to the kitchen.

Syaoran joined Ryuu at the table and placed the box of band-aids between them. He wiped the dry blood off with a warm towel and focussed all his attention on the injury.

Ryuu sat across from Syaoran with a piece of sweet bread in one hand, his palm in Syaoran's and his amber eyes on his father constantly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Syaoran asked as he picked up a band-aid.

Ryuu's gaze didn't loosen in the slightest. "You're bleeding."

Syaoran's hand instantly went to his face. He touched it lightly and looked at his hand where he could see fresh blood. He wiped it off with his forearm again and continued to peel the seal of the band-aid.

The band-aid wasn't a standard blue band-aid by any means. The box had an assortment of different Rilakkuma characters on each strip. The one he picked out for Ryuu was a caramel colour with a cartoon bear face in the middle. It was cute and childish. Mostly childish for Syaoran but they were clearly bought with Ryuu in mind. He smoothed the band-aid over Ryuu's cut and packed up the box.

Just as Syaoran stood up to return the box to the cabinet, Ryuu pushed over a band-aid on the table.

"You need one too," he stated.

Syaoran shot him a look as he pushed in the chair. "I don't."

" _You do_ ," Ryuu argued. If there was one thing they had in common, it was their stubbornness. The band-aid was now between Ryuu's index finger and thumb. He held it in the air in the distance that separated him and Syaoran.

"I'm going to look stupid with this on my face," Syaoran grumbled as he took it from Ryuu.

"You already look stupid."

Syaoran raised his brows as he peeled the band-aid apart. "Don't say that to people."

A frown crosses his face as if he didn't understand. "But you just said it," Ryuu countered.

He smoothed the band-aid onto his cheek as he did to Ryuu's hand. "Yeah, but it's not a nice thing to say to other people. And besides, if I look stupid then you look stupid too."

"But you have a band-aid on your face and I don't," Ryuu said while pointing at his own face.

Syaoran's eyes dropped to the box in his hand and back to Ryuu. "I can change that if you want."

He began to open the box again but a knock at the door interrupted him. "Come in!" Syaoran yelled. "Go get ready for school, Ryuu."

Ryuu left the kitchen and Syaoran sat down again. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his emails. It was habit for him – almost what one would consider to be second nature.

"Li-san," a much younger maid stood in the doorframe that connected the kitchen to the hallway. Her hands were folded neatly in front of the white apron she wore.

Syaoran didn't turn to face her. Instead, his eyes were glued to the screen in his hands. "In the other room," he said, waving his hand in the direction of the lounge room.

When he didn't hear her heels click away, he turned to face her. "What is it?" he asked with an annoyance in his voice.

"Mei-san wasn't able to fix Ryuu's lunch," she stammered. "Would you like me to–"

"No," Syaoran cut her off. "I'll do it."

* * *

Syaoran turned his silver Mercedes into the school carpark and pulled into one of the designated visitor spots. Part of his duties as a chaperone was to accompany the students throughout the entire trip which included the dreaded bus ride.

He pulled the keys out of the ignition and glanced up at the rearview mirror where he could see Ryuu in the backseat, looking at him. Ryuu hadn't said much when Syaoran told him he would be tagging along for the excursion but something told him that he was the teeniest bit surprised.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car. When they walked, it was bright, light, and deafeningly quiet. The complete opposite of what the day ahead will bring. As they turned around the corner, a bunch of small children wearing similar outfits to what Ryuu wore could be seen lining up in front of a group of adults.

Syaoran squinted his eyes and he could see two children jumping up and down waving their hands in their direction. He recognised one of them to be the little girl he had met the other day, Hana. The other one was a boy who, from the looks of it, was a friend of Ryuu's as well. A woman with light blonde hair tied up in a knot walked over and put a hand on Hana.

As they approached closer and closer to the group, he could hear the children laughing and talking about the day ahead with excitement.

"Li-san, we are so grateful that you could come along today," Chiharu said.

Syaoran looked up at the mention of his name and was met with Chiharu standing in front of him with a clipboard in her hands and Sakura standing a bit behind her, a slight quiver to her lips.

"We'll be jumping on the bus in a couple of minutes but until then, feel free to introduce yourself to the other parents coming with us today," Chiharu added. "I know you weren't able to meet them on the first day so better late than never, right?"

Chiharu gave a quick smile before she walked off to talk to the children who were running around. It left him alone with Sakura who was biting back her own smile.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Is there something funny, Kinomoto-san?"

She shook her head and raised her brows. "No, not at all," she replied. "But I don't think Rilakkuma goes well with a suit."

"Ah." Syaoran brought his hand up to his face and rubbed his face. "I wasn't sure what to wear. The uh– circular didn't say anything."

"It's fine, Li-san. I'm sure you've been to the museum a lot more than any of us have," Sakura said with a gentle smile. It wasn't her intention at all to make him feel uncomfortable and she felt slightly bad for making him feel that way.

He didn't react, except to lower his head momentarily. "Maybe. But not for something like this."

Sakura tilted her head. "Something like this?" she repeated.

"An excursion," he clarified. "Or with Ryuu." His tone was gentle and his words were simple but the information told her a lot.

Sakura smiled at the confession. "That makes two of us."

His eyes grew. "You've never been to the museum?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope, this will be my first time going there."

"You're not from Tokyo?" he asked, his brows furrowing slightly.

She giggled. "I thought you would've been able to tell from my accent but no, I'm from Tomoeda."

He looked away and brought his lips into a tight line.

"You probably hear hundreds of accents per day so it's silly of me to think you'd recognise mine," Sakura added, sensing his discomfort.

Before he could reply, the tall blonde he saw earlier walked in front of Sakura.

"Li-san, what a surprise to see you here," she said with a wide grin across her face.

Syaoran frowned. "Sorry, have we met before?" Not only were names and faces running through his head of who the woman standing in front of him may be but also, the fact that she cut in a conversation and blocked Sakura from his view was, in his opinion, extremely rude.

"Not officially. I'm accountant for your company" she said with a bit of disdain in her voice. "I'm also Hana's mother." She pointed her finger over to the little girl talking to Ryuu.

Syaoran forced a smile upon his face. "It's nice to meet you…"

"Shizuku. Ayaka Shizuku"

He nodded. "Hana seems to be good friends with Ryuu."

Ayaka turned her head towards the direction where Ryuu and Hana were talking and smiled. "Yes, they are. She tells me a lot about him." Her eyes drifted slightly to the left where Sakura was standing. "Is there something you need, Kinomoto-san?"

Sakura shook her head quickly and clasped her hands more tightly together. "No, sorry. Umm–" She looked in the other direction. "We'll be getting on the bus soon, that's all."

"Perfect," she smiled and turned back to Syaoran, her hand resting on his arm. "How about we continue this conversation on the bus?"

"Sure," he bit out. Ayaka began to walk towards the bus. Syaoran shot a look at Sakura and shrugged his shoulders.

It wasn't his fault for Ayaka's rudeness and Sakura knew that. She also knew that he couldn't tell her to go away considering Ryuu and the fact that she's his employee. Though he didn't say it, the way he replied to her and his actions told her that he didn't have the slightest interest in her and even though it shouldn't matter to Sakura, it made her feel a little bit better.

The group of students had been walking around the museum for almost two hours since they arrived. They looked at sculptures from different ages, artefacts from the first settlers in Japan. They looked at paintings by famous artists from all over the world but the most popular exhibit with the children had to be the large room with the dinosaur displays.

"Did they live in Japan like us, Kinomoto-sensei?" a boy asked.

Sakura nodded. "Some of them did but it was millions of years ago."

The employee from the museum nodded and continue to recount facts to the children. They each had their own booklets with activities inside to do while they walked through the museum. Sakura looked at the sketches the children were doing in their booklets and smiled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see two men in suits talking to Syaoran. From how they were gesturing and what they were wearing, she could only assume that they were important employees from the museum. Syaoran caught onto her gaze and held it for a moment before his eyes darted behind her.

"Ryuu!" he snapped, causing Sakura to jump in surprise.

In a matter of seconds, Syaoran was standing right in front of the massive tyrannosaurus rex exhibit - directly behind Ryuu.

"Don't touch the exhibits," he grounded out through his teeth in an effort to stay quiet but it was to no avail, all sets of eyes in the room were on him.

"But–"

"No buts, Ryuu," Syaoran cut his son off. "Can't you read the damn sign?" He gestured to the plaque in front of the exhibit.

"Other kids touched it too," Ryuu bit out, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I don't care if the other kids touched it, you should know better than that." Syaoran let out a deep sigh. "What if it had fallen on you?"

Ryuu's lips were held in a tight, quivering line as he looked down at the floor.

"Nothing to say?" Syaoran probed further.

Sakura's eyes drifted from Syaoran to the two men who he had been speaking to only seconds ago. They were watching the scene unfold before them and shaking their heads in disapproval. Whoever they were, they were not impressed.

"Li-san," Sakura softly called out to him.

No one else had uttered a word. They were all silent, waiting for the scene to escalate. Waiting for Syaoran to ruin his perfect public image further.

Sakura cleared her throat and called out again, "Li-san!"

The man swung his head around and his rigid gaze softened slightly when it connected with hers.

"That's enough now," Sakura said gently. "I think Ryuu understands what he did was wrong."

Ryuu took his only chance to sprint out of the room while his father's attention was fixated on Sakura. Chiharu, who had seen the whole commotion, quickly followed after him.

Syaoran squeezed his eyes shut and held the bone between his eyes with his fingers.

"I'm sorry– I shouldn't have come today." He opened his eyes and for the first time, Sakura saw pain and regret all over his features.

Sakura shook her head. "Li-san–"

The rushed sound of stilettos clicked through the room and came to an abrupt stop only inches away from Syaoran.

"Li-san, I just heard what happened!" Ayaka exclaimed while placing her hand on his arm. "Perhaps we can sit down somewhere and have a chat about it?"

Syaoran shrugged Ayaka's claw-like hand off, took one glance at Sakura and walked off.

When he couldn't be seen anymore, Ayaka folded her arms across her chest and huffed.

"The good looking ones are always such tools," she muttered out.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw shock written all over Sakura's face.

"Oopsie. I can trust you not to tell him, right?" She patted down her skirt. "I'll make your life a living hell otherwise."

She stalked off into the other room where the children had moved on to. It wasn't the direction Syaoran had gone, he went down the opposite hall. Sakura looked down the corridor again to see if there was any sign of him.

Without a soul in sight, she moved on too.

* * *

Sakura's eyes scanned down the information printed in front of one of the exhibits. She was there for the kids but it didn't stop her from enjoying herself.

She had always had a keen interest for all things history ever since she was little. It was all thanks to her father who, being an archaeologist, loved to recount famous stories from history for her bedtime stories.

Chiharu came up beside Sakura and crossed her arms. "I'm exhausted and it's not even lunch yet," she whined.

"It's not that bad," Sakura laughed when Chiharu rolled her eyes in response.

"It's as if we have no chaperones at all. Hana's mum is following Li-san like a puppy and there's a new important person waiting for Li-san around each corner,," she said as she rested her head on Sakura's shoulder. "I've already had to stop three children from running off into a different section."

Sakura frowned. "How about we have an early lunch then?" she suggested. "The children are probably hungry already anyway."

Chiharu lifted her head and glanced at her watch. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'll go tell the tour guide."

Chiharu walked off and Sakura could hear her telling the students and the adults around. The minute Ayaka heard, Sakura saw her sneak off to where Syaoran was to inform him. Sakura followed behind the back of the group, making sure there were no runaways like Chiharu had mentioned. She didn't even want to think about the consequences of losing a child on an excursion.

"You look a lot like your dad, Ryuu-kun," Yuta commented. Sakura was a bit behind them but she could still hear their conversations. They had been told to be quiet almost a hundred times but Yuta simply didn't understand the concept of being quiet. It sounded as if he was on a sporting field whenever he spoke.

"Yeah!" Hana added. "Your dad keeps talking to my mama, Ryuu-kun. Do you think they'll be best friends like us?"

"Probably," Ryuu mumbled. "He has lots of friends."

Sakura furrowed her brows at that comment. It didn't seem that Syaoran had a lot of friends but rather, mere acquaintances. Not that it was any of her business but in the short time she'd known Syaoran, she could see he acted differently around different people but maybe Ryuu was too young to understand that difference.

They arrived at the museum's canteen and the students sat at the tables with their lunches. They all brought homemade lunches but the adults could buy from the canteen itself. Sakura opted for the daily meal and returned to the table where the adults were sitting.

As Sakura took a seat, Ayaka looked at her with surprise, as if she had forgotten about her altogether.

"Kinomoto-san, I was just telling Li-san about a playdate with Hana and Ryuu, wouldn't that be a nice idea?" A smile was plastered over her face but if her twitching eye said anything, it warned Sakura not to disagree.

Sakura nodded. "It's a nice idea," Sakura said softly. "Perhaps Yuta could go as well."

Ayaka's face morphed into a mask of annoyance. "Great suggestion," she bit out. "Here's my number Li-kun. Be sure to call so we can decide on the date." She handed him what appeared to a business card.

He took it off her and looked at it for a moment. "I'll think about it."

"Great! Now excuse me, I have to duck into the ladies' room." She stood up and headed towards the corridors where the bathrooms were.

Syaoran let out a deep sigh when she was out of sight that caught the attention of both Chiharu and Sakura. He rested his elbows on the table and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"It's not what you expected, was it?" Chiharu asked.

"I thought I would get a day off work but it seems to follow me everywhere," he replied as he picked up a fork and scooped up a piece of cake.

"Tell me about it," Chiharu exclaimed. "Work is all I talk about, I wonder if my fiancé gets annoyed when I do. He said sometimes I talk in my sleep as if I'm teaching a class." She laughed.

Sakura listened as she ate her own meal. She knew whatever Chiharu said paled in comparison to the struggles Syaoran faced each day but from the looks of it, he seemed happy enough to have no attention on himself for once as he devoured the chocolate cake in front of him.

Sakura perked up when she saw student standing behind Syaoran. She could see the glimpse of a bento box but not much else.

"Dad, I don't like this." It was Ryuu.

"What's wrong with it?" Syaoran asked in a hushed whisper. He turned his body around, blocking Sakura's vision.

"It doesn't taste good and it's burnt," Ryuu whispered back. "Why didn't Mei make it?"

"She was too busy this morning so I had to do it," he replied frantically. He glanced over his shoulder and back to Ryuu. "Just– I'll go buy you something, okay?" He stood up and looked back at Chiharu and Sakura.

"Is everything alright, Li-san?" Chiharu asked.

He nodded. "I'll be back in a few."

Sakura watched him walk off to the counter with Ryuu by his side and turned back to Chiharu. Chiharu just shrugged. "No one's perfect." She stood up too and walked off to the other side of the canteen and left Sakura all by herself.

The more she's around Syaoran, the more human he becomes. Chiharu's right – that no one is perfect. Little things keep popping up with Syaoran that all point towards that fact. And from what she had learned about him in such a short time, she was willing to place her bets that his cooking was the least of his flaws.

She was munching on a biscuit when Syaoran returned. He had only been gone for a couple of minutes but it looked like he had aged ten years in that time alone. His chocolate cake was half-eaten but he didn't make any move to pick up the fork again.

"Where did everyone go?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I think Chiharu is talking to the tour guide and I'm not sure where Minami-san went," she replied, taking another bite of the biscuit.

Syaoran sighed and rested his head on one of his palms. His fingers pushed against the side of his head and his eyes were closed.

"Are you okay, Li-san?" Sakura asked.

He nodded for a long time before opening his eyes. "Nothing to worry about, Kinomoto-san."

Sakura opened her mouth and shut it again. Pulling her lips together. "I have some recipes from my dad if you need help cooking… I know it isn't easy."

He let out an awkward laugh. "You heard that?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks for the offer but I probably won't be cooking again anytime soon."

Sakura smiled and leaned over to grab the water bottle. Her phone vibrated on the table at the same time. She looked at Syaoran who was engrossed in his phone now, looking at her.

She picked it up but before she pressed the green button he asked, "Are we still running later?"

Sakura nodded and made her way to the corner of the room where it was a bit quieter.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sakura, I hope you're not in class now but I haven't had any other free time to call you," Eriol said.

"It's fine," she sighed, the sense of familiarity was nice. "How have you been?"

"Great! Europe is beautiful as always. You'll have to come with me one day," he replied. "What are you doing? How's Ryuu been holding up with that poor excuse of a father?"

Sakura frowned at that comment. The anger he had for Syaoran the other day was still here today. "I'm having lunch on a school excursion. In fact, Li-san is here as a chaperone."

Eriol chuckled. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope," Sakura replied like a proud mother even though she had no reason to feel like that. "He even made Ryuu's lunch today."

This time Eriol laughed even harder. "Now I know you're lying. Good one, Sakura."

Sakura looked back to the table where Syaoran was pushing his food around with the fork. Everything she heard about Syaoran made her feel more and more sorry for him. It was as if the world was against him.

"Did you get the pictures I sent?" Eriol interrupted her thoughts. "They should be in your inbox."

"No, I haven't checked," Sakura replied. "I'll look when I get home. But I need to get back to the excursion so I'll call you later?"

"Is everything alright?" Eriol asked slowly, taken aback by her sudden shift in tone. "Did something happened?"

Sakura glanced at Syaoran one more time, remembering what had happened earlier in the day. She closed her eyes for a second and did something that she hated to do: lie.

"Nope, the excursion has been great so far but we're about to move on so I really have to get going now."

She pursed her lips, praying that he wouldn't see through her lie.

"Alright then, I'll call you later. Have fun."

Once the call disconnected, Sakura breathed out and lowered the phone from her ear. The last thing she wanted to do was to lie to Eriol but at the same time, she couldn't stand how Eriol treated Syaoran.

Sakura returned to her seat across from Syaoran and picked up her fork.

"Did you tell him?" he asked without looking up from his phone.

"Tell him what?" Sakura asked softly.

"The scene that you witnessed, the scene that all the kids witnessed," he began. "The scene that the workers of the museum witnessed, the–"

"No," she snapped. Syaoran eyes darted up in surprise at the harsh tone. "I didn't tell him."

Syaoran furrowed his eyebrows and matched her stare. "You lied to him?"

"I withheld the truth," she replied curtly.

Syaoran leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "That's the same thing as lying."

"Did you want me to tell him?" Sakura asked.

"No, but he will find out either way," he said. "Everything I do trickles down the grapevine right into his lap."

Sakura paled at the thought of Eriol finding out that she lied to him.

"H-how?" Sakura asked with a hint of hesitation. "How does it trickle down?"

"Like I said everyone saw what happened," he replied grimly. "It's only a matter of time before he calls me."

Sakura's head fell at that response. She didn't reply but instead she poked at her food, not eating anything.

"Hey." Syaoran leaned over the table, trying to get Sakura's attention. "I'll tell him that I was close by so you couldn't tell him the truth."

Her eyes widened at the words that left his mouth.

"There's no point in both of us getting in trouble," he added.

Sakura nodded. "Thank you–"

"If I had known the great Li-san were to be eating in my canteen, I would've invited him up to my office instead," an older man with powder-white hair bellowed as he held out his hand to Syaoran.

Syaoran quickly stood up and greeted the man. "Konatsu-san, it has been a long time."

"Several years, I believe," he chuckled before glancing down at Sakura. "And who do we have here?"

"Sakura Kinomoto," she said as she bowed to her senior. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The old man's jaded eyes crinkled with delight. "The pleasure is all mine, sweetheart," he said before turning back to Syaoran. "I'm not sure what's more surprising, the fact that Syaoran Li is eating in my canteen or the fact that he brought a date along with him."

A bright red flush crept up onto Sakura's face and her face fell to the floor in an effort to avoid either of the men seeing it. If she had looked at Syaoran, she would've known that she was not the only one with red-tinted cheeks.

"Kinomoto-san isn't my date," Syaoran said. "This isn't a date at all. She's my son's teacher and we're here for the excursion."

The older man's face reddened at his mistaken assumption. "Oh." He cleared his throat. "Do you happen to be single, Kinomoto-san? I have a lovely grandson who happens to be around your age–"

"That's enough, Konatsu-san." Syaoran jumped in. "You're starting to show your age now."

A loud bellow of laughter echoed through the room. "Say no more, Li-san, you want her all to yourself," he said in between his laughs. "Just let me know if you want tickets to our nicer events because that's where beautiful women such as yourself, Kinomoto-san, belong."

Sakura and Syaoran sat down at the table in silence. Neither knowing what to make of the whole situation that had just taken place. If Tomoyo had seen Sakura's face right now, she would've thought she had just gotten back from a run due to how red it was.

Sakura's eyes peeked up to look at Syaoran who had his arms folded across his broad chest. Their gazes connected but were only held for a brief moment before they both broke out into laughter.

"Your face is so red!" Syaoran said while laughing.

"Shut up!" Sakura retorted while covering her face. "Why didn't you correct him?"

"Because your reaction was too funny."

"You're the worst," Sakura whined while pressing her cool water bottle against her searing cheeks.

"I know," Syaoran chuckled. "You're going to love me for it."


	10. Just Friends

**Chapter 10: Just Friends**

**November 2016**

The afternoon sun beamed down through the leaves and onto the concrete pavement. Sakura wiped the sweat that was beginning to form at her hairline with the back of her hand. It was her first time running in the afternoon since she started her training for the half-marathon and it didn't take her long to decide that she'd never be running at this time again. The heat, the number of people, and the sun were all putting her off. All she wanted to do was to go home and have a nice cold shower but there was one thing stopping her and this thing was only a few strides ahead of her.

Syaoran Li.

She had never met someone so hot and cold in her life. At times, he'd be laughing and smiling at her and then, only a few moments later, he would be distant, losing his temper. She wasn't oblivious to his mood swings and she didn't need to be close to him to figure out that it was Ryuu who flipped his switch.

A drop of sweat rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground. The pace they were running at was faster than usual. Faster was an understatement. It was a lot faster. Sakura had been only a couple of steps behind Syaoran when they started but the distance between them only widened as the run continued. She didn't want to stop – not with him around. It wasn't in her nature to give up so she kept running and she would keep running until the soles of her feet were bleeding. There was one problem that was a thorn in her side whenever she decided to run.

 _Thump, thump, thump_.

Sakura slowed down into a walk, clasping her hand around her aching knee. She was hoping that it wouldn't act up this afternoon – with him around – but it was inevitable with the pace they were running at.

She shut her eyes tightly, pushing back the tears that were threatening to fall. Her knee was an issue and it sucked that she couldn't do anything about it. It stopped her from doing many things, too many things and she had decided that it wasn't going to anymore. But every time this happened, every time she woke up in the middle of the night with pain shooting down her leg like acid had been poured all over it – it was only then when she reconsidered what she was doing.

"Li-san!" she yelled between short breaths. The exhaustion, the aching knee, and the gruelling sun were all starting to get to her. To pull her down again.

Syaoran's eyes widen slightly as he looked back over his shoulder. Quickly turning around, he jogged back and kneeled in front of her.

"Is it hurting again?" Sakura's chest tightened at the concern lacing his voice. His hand replaced her own on her knee and ever so gently, he began to press the pads of his fingers in a kneading motion.

A small whine escaped her lips as Syaoran continued to apply pressure on her knee.

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, firmly pressing two fingers onto the kneecap.

The sudden pressure caused her to buckle. Her hand shot out and landed on his shoulder, holding herself upright. Syaoran was quick to act as well with his other hand steadying her at the waist.

Syaoran slowly eased himself up, careful not to let her fall. His hand that was on her waist was replaced with his arm as he helped her to the near bench. Before Sakura could react, he sat down beside her and pulled her legs onto his lap. Her eyes widened at the gesture. His willingness to help her was surprising but it was his gentleness that was beginning to scare her. Not because it seemed fake but because it was real. Too real. And she liked it.

She began to pull her legs back to her chest. "You don't have to do that…" Sakura mumbled, a hint of pink spread across her cheeks. The whole situation was making her a bit shy. It was new and different but nice at the same time. But they were in public and they barely knew each other.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing," he replied, gently pulling her legs back to his lap. "Just lie down and tell me if I'm hurting you."

Sakura nodded slowly, the hesitation was still there but she did what he told her to do. She lied down and closed her eyes. He told her to relax and that was exactly what she was going to do. Or at least try to do. The minute his large hand started to massage her knee, any thought of relaxation was off the table.

"Stop squirming," he said, his eyebrows furrowing. "I don't want to explain to my employees why I have a black eye after you knee me in the face."

A surprised chuckle escapes her. "You're funny."

"Guilty. It's one of my many talents," he said with a slight smirk to his face.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the comment and leaned back onto the bench. She was beginning to discover that he was many things. Funny, handsome, kind, short-tempered, and now arrogant.

"Kinomoto," he warned, giving her a pointed look before returning his attention to her knee.

"I can't help it," she whined. "It hurts."

"You're worse than Ryuu," he muttered under his breath. After a few more seconds of her squirming and Syaoran pressing around her knee, he sighs and looks at her. "Can you tell me where it hurts?"

Sakura pushed herself up and leaned over to her knee. Her index finger pointed at two spots on her knee.

"Here and here." She could see his eyes scanning up her thighs until they finally connected with her own set of eyes. Sakura quirked an eyebrow and his nostrils flared. Syaoran knew he'd been caught and it was his fault too – it wasn't discrete in the slightest. He quickly looked away and didn't say a word.

Syaoran cleared his throat and replaced where Sakura's hand had only been a few seconds ago with his own. She lied back onto the bench and watched the sky above her. The afternoon sun was starting to fall down behind the trees that were surrounding the park. The light was still shining through the leaves and the gold flecks in Syaoran's hair reflected in those tiny streams of sunlight.

She propped herself onto her elbows and watched Syaoran's face of concentration. For what seemed to be an ordinary massage, he was putting a great deal of effort into it. The idea that he was thinking of something else came across her mind but she dismissed it. He wouldn't tell her anything anyway.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, looking at her from under his eyelashes.

Sakura wouldn't tell him what was truly on her mind. She was afraid to admit that to herself. There were so many questions, so many thoughts and they all concerned him.

"I've never seen you…" her voice trailed off, trying to find the right topic. A friendly topic. "Not in a suit." She finished off lamely.

He looked down at his white shirt and grey sweatpants and shrugged. "Don't get used to it."

Sakura couldn't hide the disappointment on her face and Syaoran noticed it immediately.

"I mean, I wear suits all the time since I don't have time for anything else," he clarified. "So, it makes sense that you haven't seen me without one." Sakura nodded at his explanation and leaned back, closing her eyes once more.

The ache was starting to go away – his fingers were like magic. If only she could drag him along to all her runs so he could do it again once it starts to act up but that was selfish. Indulging in this was selfish. But it felt good and he knew as much as she did that it felt good.

Beginnings of a moan surprise her and she whipped her eyes open, covering her mouth almost immediately.

Syaoran cocked an eyebrow in amusement but he didn't say anything. Or so she had thought.

"Easy to please," Syaoran murmured as his ducked his head down with a smile. And that was enough for her. Sakura pulled her legs back off his lap and cleared her throat when he stopped her.

"It was just a joke," he drawled out as if he was a child whose favourite toy was being taken away from him.

"Yeah, I know" she said. "I'm all better now, thanks for that."

"It's no problem." Syaoran smiled softly. "I used to injure myself doing martial arts when I was younger so I know a bit about massaging aches."

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

Syaoran scrubbed his jaw and shrugged. "Is there anything wrong with being full of surprises?"

She turned her head and looked at him. He could see the gears in her mind working full speed, processing whatever thoughts were crossing her mind.

"No. After our first meeting and everything I'd heard from other people, I never expected you to be this person. It's nice," she said with a small smile. "It's really nice."

Syaoran's jaw ticked as if he was fighting back a smile. "I'm only like this around my friends and I hope I'm right in assuming that we're friends."

His voice was soft as if he didn't want anyone else to hear the words that had left his mouth. Sakura could see the vulnerability hiding behind the veil of his eyes. It made her feel almost nervous.

"Yeah," Sakura squeaked. "Of course, we are."

He didn't say anything more after that. Instead, he looked away and watched the sun fall down behind the skyscrapers that inundated Tokyo. Sakura, on the other hand, only had her eyes on the ghost of a smile touching his lips.

It was serene – quiet. Like they were the only two people left in the world. And much to Sakura's surprise, she felt comfortable.

"Kinomoto," Syaoran said in a low voice. His attention wasn't on her – all of his focus was on the light fading away behind the buildings.

"Mmm?"

"Did you want to–"

Before Syaoran could finish his sentence, Sakura's phone began to ring. She cringed internally at the  _Catch You Catch Me_  repetition in her ringtone. Syaoran's focus darted down to the source of the noise, frowning at the disruption.

"Go ahead."

She tapped the screen and held the phone up to her ear tentatively. Syaoran didn't move – he stayed on the bench with her, only inches away. Sakura was keenly aware that he was going to hear anything that was said to her on the phone and no doubt, he'd be listening. After all, it was clear that Eriol hasn't held him in high regard when speaking to her.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about me." The words flew out of Eriol's mouth. "I told you earlier that I'd be calling again."

"I remember." She hadn't remembered but there was no way that she was going to tell him that.

She heard Eriol let out a deep breath on the other side of the phone. He was oddly quiet in this phone call compared to the rest.

"I've been missing your sweet voice," Eriol murmured. Sakura bowed her head down to hide the faint tinge of pink spreading rapidly across her face. Syaoran didn't say anything but she knew he'd heard it. His clenching jaw was a dead giveaway of that.

"I miss you too," Sakura said softly, pressing the palms of her hands onto her cheeks to lower the temperature.

"Are you with someone?" Eriol asked.

Sakura paused for a moment before answering. The question was sudden and one he hadn't asked in any of their other phone calls. One thing she knew for certain was that telling Eriol that she was with Syaoran wouldn't go down well.

"No, why?"

"I just thought– doesn't matter," Eriol replied quickly. "I'm calling you to let you know that I'll be back from Europe after the new year."

She bit her lip. That was still over a month away and he had already been gone for so long. Somehow, he felt like a stranger to her.

"I didn't realise these meetings would take so long," she said.

"Ah well, I decided to stay for Christmas to see some old friends here," he said nonchalantly. "You're seeing your family for Christmas, right?"

"Oh um, I'll work something out." He knew that her father and brother were out of the country but she hadn't told him that she couldn't afford to fly out to see them. Though, it didn't matter now. Plans were in place for him and the last thing she wanted to be was a burden.

"That's great." His tone was clipped as if he hadn't heard a word she'd just said. "I have to go now. But Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"You better start calling me more often or else I'll start to think that you've replaced me." Sakura could almost feel the smirk on his lips as he said those words.

"I'll try–"

The beeping sound of the call ending cut her off. Something was wrong with him but she wasn't going to dwell on it at the moment. Sakura turned to face Syaoran who was idly scrolling through his phone with a blank face.

"Li-san." He didn't lift his face from the screen but he was listening. "What were you saying before?"

"Nothing important." He jumped up to his feet. "I have to go back to the office so let me take you home."

"Oh, okay." She tried to hide the disappointment within her voice but even she knew she had failed.

The night sky was getting darker and darker as they waited for Syaoran's driver to pick them up. His eyes were glued to the screen in his hand.

"Li-san," Sakura said softly. "Would you like to run another day?"

Without looking up from his phone, he replied, "I'll have to check my schedule."

Sakura bowed her head and focussed her eyes on the ground. It wasn't a straight answer but she knew what he had meant. For someone like him, it was an automatic response – a cop-out.

It was an indirect no.

* * *

Sakura's finger glided across her phone screen for the fifth time this hour. She wasn't a morning person when she was a child and now into adulthood, she still wasn't fond of mornings. She snuggled into her sheets a tiny bit more, trying to get some extra sleep before she had to go to work.

Her ears perked up like a cat when she heard heavy breathing that didn't belong to her. Opening her eyes slightly, Sakura turned over to the left side to find Tomoyo grinning ear to ear.

It was too early for this. Even by Tomoyo's standards.

"What are you doing in my room?" Sakura asked while rubbing her eyes to make sure it was really Tomoyo sitting beside her bed. Tomoyo was certainly not a morning person either.

"I'm so glad you're finally awake!" She clapped her hands together and promptly helped herself onto Sakura's bed.

"Did I miss something or do you not have your own bed anymore?" Sakura asked as she pulled up the sheets closer to her chin.

Tomoyo slapped Sakura playfully. "No, but I have some really exciting news to tell you."

"You're pregnant?"

A horrified expression washed over Tomoyo's face before she could compose herself. "I have no idea where you got that idea from but no, I'm not pregnant."

Sakura covered her mouth as she yawned. She didn't get enough sleep last night and it was becoming evident.

"You got a job?"

"Yes!" Tomoyo squealed and pulled Sakura into a tight hug. It was an awkward hug as Sakura was sleep lying down but Tomoyo managed to do it anyway. "The owner of this boutique loved all of my designs."

A genuine smile crossed Sakura's lips. Her closest friend was finally getting what she deserved – recognition. Not only were things starting to look up for Tomoyo but her dream that she had told Sakura a few months ago was finally starting to come together.

"He said that if I work really hard over the next couple of weeks, some of my designs will be out in stores by January," she said with a sparkle in her eyes. "That's why I was so late in coming home last night."

"Promise me that you'll remember me when you're a famous fashion designer in Paris and New York," Sakura teased. Tomoyo wasn't the type to forget but rather, she was the type to remember every little detail.

She rolled her eyes but not even Tomoyo could hide the smile that was beaming across her face.

"I'm just so happy that my dreams are finally coming true, thanks to Miura-san."

"Miura-san is your new boss?" Sakura yawned out the question. As happy as she was for her friend, the news wasn't making her any less sleepy.

Tomoyo nodded. "He was really lovely and he said yes to all of my designs so I think I might be a little in love," she laughed. People always say that chocolates and sweet gestures are the way to a girl's heart but not for Tomoyo. Compliment one of her outfits and you'll be her new favourite person until future notice.

"You'll have to introduce me to this dream grantor one day then," Sakura said as she brought herself up and leaned against the headboard.

"One day," Tomoyo repeated in affirmation. "Did Li-san end up going to your excursion yesterday or did he bail out?"

The quick change of topics took Sakura by surprise. "Um yeah, he was there."

Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at Sakura. She knew something was up and she was going to find out.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"He joined me for an afternoon run," Sakura mumbled with a slight blush across her face.

"Does Eriol-kun know about that?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura shook her head. "He called me but I didn't tell him about it…" she trailed off in a soft voice. "Li-san is a good person but Eriol-kun doesn't agree with that so I thought it was best not to tell him."

Tomoyo considered what Sakura had told her for a few moments.

"And what if Eriol-kun finds out?"

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip. Syaoran mentioned that Eriol has a way of finding things out but there was no way that he would find out about this run unless Syaoran told Eriol himself.

"I'm not sure," she replied.

Tomoyo merely shrugged her shoulders and climbed off the bed. "Well, it's not like you're cheating on Eriol-kun," she reasoned. "You're just acquaintances because Li-san is the father of one of your students."

"Friends," Sakura corrected, remembering the conversation she had with Syaoran the previous day.

"Friends?" Tomoyo tilted her head wondering where and when Sakura and Syaoran progressed from acquaintances to friends.

"Yep." Sakura nodded. "Just friends."

* * *

"Bye Kinomoto-sensei!" Yuta yelled with flailing arms across the playground. "I'll show you my drawing tomorrow!"

Sakura waved back with a smile on her face. Yuta was a burst of energy where ever he was. In all the time she had been teaching at the school, she couldn't remember one day where Yuta wasn't smiling and jumping around. She could only hope that he'd never lose that spark as he grew older.

She flipped over the page of the book she was reading on one of the benches at the front of the school. It was her turn to be on afterschool duty which meant she had to make sure that all the kids were safe and picked up before the sun went down. It was actually Chiharu's job to do this but she asked so Sakura happily obliged.

Sighing, Sakura closed the book. It wasn't even her book to begin with. She'd never been much of a reader but Chiharu warned her that after school duty was going to bore her out of her mind. But if she was going to be honest, the only thing that had bored her this afternoon was the mystery novel Chiharu had given her.

Sakura's eyes scanned the playground. There weren't many children left but those that were still around were either chatting with each other on another bench similar to the one Sakura was on or reading one of the books they were assigned in class. She didn't recognise most of the students because a lot of them were from other classes. Though on the far side of the front yard, she could see a very familiar head of messy, brown hair.

She had seen Ryuu kicking the soccer ball around with Yuta earlier but since Yuta had gone home, it looked like he had resorted to kicking the ball against the wall. Sakura gave him credit for his dedication.

Glancing down to her watch, Sakura frowned. Considering how young the children in her class were, most of the parents arrived earlier to pick up their children. The older kids were usually responsible enough to catch the bus or use the trains to get home but it was still too early for that at Ryuu's age. Syaoran was late – she knew that much. Deep down, she was crossing her fingers that he hadn't forgotten again.

She stood up and began to approach Ryuu. Maybe he knew Syaoran was going to be late or someone was going to pick him up – either way, she had to check. She had to make sure he found his way home safely. After all, that was part of her duty.

"Ryuu?" she called out to him a couple of metres away. He turned his head toward her but didn't say anything. Even his mannerisms reminded her of Syaoran.

As if it was déjà vu, her phone started ringing in her pocket and once again, she mentally slapped herself for not changing her ringtone. Not that she hated the  _Catch You, Catch Me_  song but it went against her grown up persona she needed around children.

Ryuu had already returned to kicking the ball so she answered the unidentified number across the screen.

"Hello?" Her voice was unsure, not knowing who to expect on the other end of the line.

"Kinomoto, something has come up."

Furrowing her brows, she recognised that voice. "Li-san?" It was the last person she expected to call her cell phone.

"Yeah, it's me," his gruff voice responded. "Sorry for calling you so suddenly but I don't know what else to do." Sakura's chest tightened at the panic she could hear over the phone. She wasn't feeling too good about what was going to come next.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Sakura's own heart was racing as she thought of the worst possible scenarios run through her mind.

"I can't pick him up," he replied flatly. Sakura tilted her head, wondering what on earth he was referring to.

"Can't pick up who?" she asked.

After a few moments of silence from the other end, she heard Syaoran let out a sigh.

"I can't pick Ryuu up from school today," he mumbled.

She bit her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing but it didn't work. Of all the things that could've have been wrong, that could've gone wrong, this did not cross her mind.

"Isn't there a driver you could send to pick him up?" Sakura knew Syaoran had plenty of options available to him which begs the question – why did he call her?

"No." His response was quick. "I– I promised him that I'd pick him up."

The corners of her mouth quirked up into a smile. There was something special of a man not wanting to break such a simple promise he made to a child. It was cute. And if she hadn't had a boyfriend, it was swoon worthy.

"I can stay with Ryuu until you're done."

"No, that's too much to–" His sentence was cut short but she could hear him talking to someone else over the phone. His voice was distant and cold as he spoke to the other person in the room.

Sakura lifted her head to watch Ryuu again. Their eyes connected for a brief moment but he broke that off fast. He had been listening.

"Sorry about that," Syaoran sighed. He sounded exhausted. "I just– never mind. Are you sure you're okay to wait with him? I think I'll only be an hour or so."

"Yep!" Sakura chirped. "Did you want to speak with him?"

"No, that won't be necessary. He trusts you," he said. "I trust you."

Sakura's eyes widened at that comment. It was the last thing she expected to hear from him.

"We'll be fine. No need to worry!" Sakura smiled. "Maybe I'll take him to my favourite ice cream parlour near the park."

The line was silent for a while but he hadn't hung up. She drew her lower lip between her teeth. Had she gone too far?

"Or not," she added quickly. "I can just take him to the park and wait for you there."

"No, that's fine. I'll repay you once I have the chance," he said. He didn't sound like himself this time. It was the tone he had used when the other person was in the room – cold and distant.

"Okay, so I'll see you at the park in one hour?"

"Yep," he confirmed. "And Kinomoto?"

"Mmm?"

"His favourite ice cream is strawberry."


	11. Close for Comfort

**November 2016**

"Do you think he forgot about me again?"

Sakura's gaze drifted down to the boy sitting beside her on the park bench. His unruly brown hair was illuminated by the street lamp hanging above their heads. He looked up at her with his big, amber eyes with such conviction that she held all the answers in the universe – including the answer to the question he had just asked.

Lifting her hand from her lap, she stroked his hair back and shook her head. His question was innocent but the context behind it broke her heart into pieces. Ryuu had been forgotten before. She was there when it happened, and she didn't doubt that it had happened more than once. He was accustomed to this when he shouldn't be. A child should be loved and cherished. Not neglected and forgotten. To the world, he was a young child and that was shown through his face. But it was his eyes that told his story and for him, his story was that he was an old soul. Living a life beyond his years.

"No, I don't think so," Sakura murmured. "Your dad just has a lot on his plate at the moment."

His brows drew together in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means that he's very busy," Sakura explained. Moments like this reminded her that he was only eight years old. There was no doubt that he had been through a lot more than the average eight-year-old, there was still a realm of knowledge out there waiting for him.

"I know that," Ryuu mumbled. "He thinks I don't see but I know."

"What have you seen?" Sakura asked. Over the time she had known Ryuu, she learned that he wasn't the type of child to open up to you. He was very careful with his words and kept his cards close to his chest. Getting any information out of him was like trying to pull teeth. With that in mind, she jumped at the chance to learn more about what was going on with Ryuu and Syaoran.

"He doesn't eat or sleep when he comes home because he's in his office working," he replied.

Sakura frowned. She was aware of his job and how intense running a company could be but at the same time, she thought he would've had a whole team of staff helping him around the clock. If he didn't then it made sense, why he sounded so desperate on the phone earlier. He was exhausted and no matter how much money he had, he couldn't be in two places at once.

"Are you eating and sleeping, Ryuu?" Sakura asked.

He bobbed his head up and down. "But I'm scared something will happen to him." He paused for a moment, carefully selecting his next words. "Like what happened to mum"

Sakura blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall. He didn't need to spell out what his fear was because they were in the same vein as Sakura's had been. Losing her mother at such a young age made her cling onto her father even more. She could see that Ryuu was the same to a certain extent.

"That won't happen," she said, stroking his hair once more. "There's no need for you to worry about that."

His face was solemn. It was the face of someone who had done something wrong, said something wrong. Someone who should be promising to never do that again, say that again but won't. The air around them simmered and he let out a big yawn.

Glancing down at her watch, Sakura sighed. It was getting late. Syaoran was already two hours late and she hadn't heard a thing from him. People at the park were starting to leave and for a moment, she thought she'd be joining them pretty soon.

"If you want, you can sleep here," Sakura said while patting her lap. "I can wake you up once he gets here."

Ryuu rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was reluctant at first but as his eyes began to droop even further, he shifted his body and rested his head on her lap. Sakura silently hoped she wasn't crossing a line, but it was too late to worry about that now. In only a matter of seconds, he was fast asleep. Like his father, he was exhausted.

Minutes passed and before she knew it, another hour went by and Ryuu was still sleeping. Syaoran still hadn't called or updated her on when he was going to arrive – if he was going to arrive at all. She trusted him. She trusted that he would come eventually, that he hadn't forgotten about them. But even Sakura was beginning to have her doubts.

Then she heard a sound. Footsteps on the concrete ground behind her. It wasn't uncommon for people to be walking through the park during the nighttime in Tokyo. Much like New York, people never slept here. Curiosity got the better of her and she looked over her shoulder.

A tall man dressed in all black – a black jacket and black dress pants – was walking directly to the bench she was sitting on. He ran a hand through his hair that was identical to the one on her lap at the moment. He hadn't forgotten.

Syaoran sat down on the edge of the bench beside her. His head was bent, and his gaze was fixated on the ground beneath his feet. He hadn't said a word since he arrived. Not even an apology or an explanation as to why he was late. But he didn't need to say anything because his face told Sakura everything she needed to know. His cheeks were gaunt, the skin under his eyes was dark, and it looked like he had aged ten years in only a matter of hours since she last saw him.

Sakura reached out and rubbed his shoulder. She could feel the muscles underneath her hand and while they were strong, they were full of tension. Slowly, he slid back against the backrest of the bench and folded his arms. He watched Ryuu as he slept on Sakura's lap and she did the same until she decided it wasn't interesting enough, so she watched him instead. There was a ghost of a smile touching his lips.

"Was he good for you?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "We ate strawberry ice cream and kicked the soccer ball around but he wasn't very impressed with me, so it didn't last long."

"That sounds like something he would do." He was smiling a smile she hadn't seen before. It was one full of affection but it wasn't for her. It was for Ryuu. But it vanished within a second.

The cell phone he was clutching in his hand was vibrating and streams of colours flashed across the screen. Sakura peered over his shoulder and caught a small glimpse of the endless notifications. Syaoran rubbed his jaw with the palm of his hand and swiped across the screen with his other hand. Only moments later, his phone was off and inside the pocket of his jacket.

"Is everything okay at work?" Sakura asked. If it was any other parent, she wouldn't bother asking because what happened at work was none of her business. But with Syaoran, they were past the point of being strictly professional with each other. There was something wrong and it was eating at Syaoran – she knew that, he knew that, and even Ryuu knew that. She wanted to help however she could. She was desperate to help.

"Everything's fine." His response was short and curt. It was also a lie that even his poker face couldn't hide.

"I know we haven't known each other for very long but you're not going to fool anyone with that lie," Sakura said. "Especially me and I'm offended that you thought it would."

She was ready to take back her words the instant they left her mouth. She'd never been straightforward with anyone in her life and the scary part was that she didn't know where it had come from. Syaoran, on the other hand, shifted his eyes from Ryuu to Sakura and blinked a few times. He was surprised as well.

"Most people would take a hint and drop the topic but you, Sakura, are full of surprises," he clipped.

Heat rushed to her cheeks. Syaoran called her Sakura. Not Kinomoto – just Sakura. She wasn't sure if it had been a slip of the tongue or if he used it genuinely. She silently hoped it was genuine. The way her name sounded from his mouth was smooth like velvet. He was still staring at her, waiting for a response. His stare was intense. Everything about him was intense.

When she didn't reply, he sighed and leaned even further back into the backrest of the bench.

"You've probably already guessed but work isn't going well." He paused, and Sakura watched as he debated on whether he wanted to share more with her or not. "Three ex-employees have filed a lawsuit against the company which, if we lose, could cost the company millions in damages."

The cuticles of his nail that he had been picking at ever since he had arrived began to bleed. It was a nervous tic and as Sakura looked closer, it was clear that he was anxious a lot. Reaching out, she took his hand into hers, rubbing the back in small strokes. He was anxious about opening up to her and while she couldn't find the words, this was the only solution that was available.

"Did you find out about this today?" she asked softly.

"No," he replied with his eyes focussed on their clasped hands. "The court hearing is set for next week so my lawyers have been briefing me on the logistics of our defence but they're not confident."

She gave his hand a quick squeeze. His world was completely different to hers and things like this put that into perspective. Even in her dreams, Sakura couldn't imagine having a million dollars to lose.

"You won't know the outcome until the judge has had the final words so you need to be confident with your case and hope for the best."

The corners of his mouth quirked up. "That wasn't reassuring at all, Sakura."

A laugh escaped her lips and she pulled her hand from his grasp to cover her mouth but he quickly took it back.

"What was I supposed to say?" she mumbled with a pink tinge tainting her cheeks. He'd used her first name again. It wasn't a slip of the tongue after all.

Syaoran merely shook his head. "It's too late now." He smiled, and then stifled it. "Thanks for listening. Not many people do anymore."

It was a rare moment of vulnerability for him and it made her feel important that he was sharing it with her.

"You're welcome, Syaoran-kun," she mumbled out the words, silently hoping he didn't catch onto what she'd said.

His eyes lowered and his jaw tightened as he reached out and tugged a strand of her hair. "It has been years since anyone called me that."

"I'm sorry, I thought I could–"

"It's fine," he murmured as he pressed his thumb to her chin. "I like the sound of it."

"The sound of what?"

Syaoran quickly pulled his hand back and straightened his back at the sound of Ryuu's voice.

"Nothing," Sakura and Syaoran said at the same time. Their eyes connected and a small smile spread across both of their faces. Although, they hadn't done anything, it felt like they'd been caught doing something wrong.

Ryuu sat up and squinted at the two of them and then, he folded his arms across his chest. Something had happened but he could find out about that later.

"I want to go home."

* * *

Sakura dragged her feet down the wooden floors of her apartment until she reached the kitchen counter. The clock just ticked past nine and she had only just arrived at home. It had been a long day but she couldn't help but feel that it was worth it.

She placed the letters she'd retrieved from the mailbox on the counter and sifted through them. Grabbing two of them for herself, she picked up the remaining three letters for Tomoyo and continued down the hallway to the bedrooms.

"Tomoyo-chan?" she yelled.

Light shined from underneath Tomoyo's door told her that she was home but for whatever reason, she hadn't come out. As Sakura got closer to the door, she could hear the soft mumblings of Tomoyo's voice. She was talking to someone. Sighing, Sakura turned around and walked to her own room and placed the letters on her desk.

She fell onto her bed and palmed her closed eyes with her hands. She didn't know what to make of tonight. Syaoran had this power to make her feel things – things that she shouldn't be feeling but yet, she craved them. He made her feel important, like she was worth something. Eriol hadn't made her feel that way since the minute she met him.

He called her Sakura tonight. He held her hand tonight. He touched her face tonight. These things don't happen between friends but she knew that that's all they were and he knew that as well. But she couldn't help but feel that there was something there.

At the end of the day, she was still dating Eriol. No matter what she felt for Syaoran – or what she thought she felt for him, she couldn't do anything about it. She wouldn't do anything about it. It was cruel to Eriol. These feelings, whatever they are, will pass. Maybe it was wishful thinking but she was almost certain that she wasn't the only one feeling this. Syaoran was too or so she thought.

A soft knock rattled on her door and Tomoyo entered shortly after. She had a sort of glow to her. The kind of glow that a person has when everything in their life is going to plan.

Sakura opened her eyes and let out a yawn. "Who were you talking to?"

She didn't miss the blush creeping up on Tomoyo's cheeks. Tomoyo wasn't exactly the best at concealing her emotions but that didn't bother Sakura at all. She wanted her friends to be open with her.

"Miura-san," she replied to which Sakura quirked an eyebrow. "My new boss," Tomoyo clarified.

Checking the time on her phone, Sakura frowned. "You're talking to your boss at nine o'clock at night?"

Tomoyo nodded and folded her arms across her chest. "What's wrong with that?"

Sakura sat up on the edge of her bed and looked at Tomoyo. "Do you really not see the problem with that?"

In her short lifetime, Sakura has had worked at several places and never had she ever had to speak to her boss at this time of the night. There was never a need to. She could slightly understand if there was an emergency but Tomoyo worked at a boutique and she highly doubted whatever they were talking about concerned an emergency.

"It's not like that. He told me that I'm his new muse so he just wanted some inspiration, that's all," Tomoyo said gruffly. She had difficulty maintaining eye contact as she said those words.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "How old is this guy anyway?"

"How is that relevant?" Tomoyo retorted and this time, her face was flushed with anger.

"Why are you deflecting all of my questions?" Sakura asked. Like Tomoyo, she was beginning to get frustrated.

"Because you're acting like I'm the one having an affair!"

Silence fell upon them and only a knife could cut the tension in the room. Sakura's jaw dropped at Tomoyo's accusation.

"What do you mean by that?" She tried to conceal the hurt she was feeling but it was to no avail. She couldn't believe it.

"Come on, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo chided. "Do you really think I haven't noticed how much you've been around Li-san these days?"

It was true that Sakura had been around Syaoran a lot and Tomoyo knew bits and pieces of that but she hadn't told Tomoyo anything that could be perceived as an affair.

"I teach his son so of course, I'm going to see him a lot," Sakura rebutted.

"You and I both know that it's more than that," Tomoyo said as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"An affair?" Sakura questioned in a soft voice. "You know I wouldn't do that."

"Physically, probably not," Tomoyo said curtly. "But emotional affairs exist and I think you're guilty of that."

Sakura blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. Having accusations like this from someone she considered to be her best friend was hard to swallow.

"If you truly think that then you can keep your opinion to yourself," Sakura said without looking at Tomoyo. At this stage, it was hard to even look in her direction.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Same goes to you," she huffed and slammed the door on her way out.

Sakura fell onto her back and hugged her pillow tightly to her chest. It was the first fight they'd ever had and of course, it was over boys. She wanting to laugh at the cliché but she couldn't. The things Tomoyo had said to her hurt and while she was positive Tomoyo had only said them in the heat of the moment, she couldn't help but question if they held any truth to them. The fact that Tomoyo didn't even bother to listen and hear her side made her more infuriated but then, perhaps Tomoyo didn't need to hear her side at all.

One thing that was nagging Sakura was the fact that Tomoyo was so defensive. There was clearly something she wasn't telling her. Maybe she was embarrassed about it or even ashamed – Sakura had no idea what provoked Tomoyo to act so abrasively. All she could do now was hope that Tomoyo would tell her when she was ready. They may have fought today but a friendship wouldn't be a friendship without a few fights here and there. They'll get over it, or so she hoped so. But for now, she squeezed her pillow even closer.

An emotional affair? Is that what people called whatever she was feeling? Sakura brushed it aside. She hadn't done anything and no one even knew about these feelings in the first place. She was fine – innocent, even. It wouldn't be an affair until she acted upon it and she promised herself that she wouldn't.

Sakura rolled over onto the other side of the bed. The photo frame with her mother's picture was in her line of sight on the bedside table. Sakura smiled. Her mother was beautiful.

"What am I doing?" she asked the picture. It wouldn't reply – it couldn't reply but Sakura found comfort in asking her mother. She'd been doing this ever since she was a child. Whenever there was a question to be asked and she couldn't ask her brother or father, she asked her mother. As if her mother would magically send her some sort of message or sign of what to do.

She stared long and hard at the picture. Waiting for a response that wouldn't come and when it didn't come, she stood up and turned off the light.

As her eyes fluttered shut, she whispered into the darkness, "I never wanted to hurt anyone."

* * *

Syaoran stretched his arms above his head and let out a long yawn. After the long day he'd had, he should've been in bed by now but instead, he was at his desk working until his eyes started to bleed. If he had shut his eyes, even for a tiny bit, he could've fallen asleep right then and there but the bing from his laptop quickly brought him back to his reality.

He rubbed the scruff on his chin and returned back to the screen. It was another email from the branch in China. Work was starting to pile up leading up to the end of the year and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay on top of it all. Everyone thought it was an easy job. That, instead of doing all the work he was doing, he was eating at fancy restaurants or out partying on yachts. That sort of life was reserved for people who were satisfied with less than the best. He was a perfectionist at heart and his company, that his family built from the ground up, deserved the best.

If he hadn't gone on the excursion to the museum the other day or if he hadn't joined Sakura during her run, then maybe he wouldn't have so much to catch up on. But that day was one of the best days he has had in years. He wouldn't deny that. The things she said to him made him forget about his life, about work, about Kimi. It was as if he was his old self again.

He couldn't afford to do that anymore. He couldn't rely on Sakura to bring back his happiness. It wasn't fair to her or to himself. Not to mention that she wasn't even available. Eriol would hate him even more than he did already. Nothing good will ever come to him. He learned that the day Kimi passed away.

Syaoran opened his desk's drawer and eyed the cigarette box within it. He needed to take the edge off. To numb his brain from everything that has been happening. He needed to feel nothing again so he could feel normal, feel something. He opened the box and walked out onto the balcony.

Bringing the cigarette between his lips, he drew a deep pull and breathed the smoke into the air. He watched the skyline of Tokyo as he did every other night when he came out here. There was always something new to look out for. It was so vast and bright and instead of giving him motivation to do greater things, it made him seem small. As if he didn't matter at the end of the day. When work and life became stressful, he couldn't help but want to fade away into nothingness. What if he didn't have the job that he did have? Would he be happy? Living an ordinary life seemed like a faraway dream. A lot of people depended on him – he was a very important person to thousands of people who worked below him. But would any of them miss him if he really went away?

He blew another puff of smoke and scratched his head. He couldn't be having these thoughts. Not when Ryuu was sleeping in the room next door. No matter how much he wanted things to be different, he wouldn't do anything that would affect Ryuu. This was his burden to carry.

"Dad?"

"Fuck," Syaoran muttered under his breath as he scrunched the cigarette in his hand. An onslaught of coughs came spilling out of his mouth.

Ryuu stood inside of the office near the clear sliding door. He was in his Superman pyjamas, clutching onto the Pokémon plushie that he slept with every night. It was well and truly past his bedtime.

"You said you were going to stop," Ryuu said softly. "Mei and Eriol-kun said smoking is bad for you."

Syaoran scrubbed his forehead with his palm. Even when he was trying not to hurt Ryuu, he still did.

"I know," he said. "I'm sorry."

Walking back inside, he shut the door and sat down on the couch in his office with Ryuu. His office had become his bedroom in recent years. He couldn't bring himself to sleep on his bed in the other room – the bed he once shared with Kimi.

"Are you having nightmares again?" Syaoran asked. The nightmares had been an ongoing dilemma for Ryuu over the years. Syaoran was aware of the trauma that caused them but he wouldn't tell Ryuu until he was older. Until then, he'd been to every doctor across the country, seeking advice but he hadn't had any luck.

Ryuu nodded and held his plushie closer. "The woman was screaming and crying again," he whispered.

Syaoran's jaw hardened. He knew what Ryuu was referring to but he couldn't say anything. He couldn't explain to him why he was having these nightmares and it killed him inside. If he was given the chance to have the nightmares instead of Ryuu, he'd take them without a second thought. But not even all the money in the world could give him that. It wouldn't be of much use anyway since he had his own nightmares to deal with on the odd occasion that he managed to catch any sleep.

He let out another yawn and checked the time on his phone. Perhaps this was the sign he needed to stop working for the night.

"How about we watch some cartoons until you fall asleep?" Syaoran suggested.

"Okay," Ryuu replied.

Syaoran grabbed the blanket that was sprawled over the back of the couch and turned the television on. Most nights, he would be sleeping on this couch instead of his bed. He hadn't touched that bed in years but the sheets were washed and changed every week by Mei. Even after all these years, he couldn't bring himself to sleep on that bed alone. Ryuu moved closer to Syaoran's side so they could both fit under the blanket.

He could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier after only a few minutes. He was exhausted and that didn't surprise him one bit. He had been working nonstop for days and whenever he did get some shut-eye, it was either a 20-minute nap or a longer, fitful nap interrupted by a nightmare.

"Do you like Kinomoto-sensei?" Ryuu asked. His voice was tired and it sounded like he was just on the verge of passing out.

The question had Syaoran wide awake again. Of course, he liked Sakura but he didn't know to what extent.

"Of course," Syaoran replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You called her Sakura tonight," Ryuu said in between his yawns. "You never call anyone by their first name unless they're family."

He had to give it to Ryuu. He was observant as hell for a child but it reminded him of himself when he was young. Though, if Ryuu had heard him call her Sakura then, he would've heard everything else as well. Turns out he's good at pretending to be asleep.

"First names aren't restricted to family, you know that," Syaoran said.

"I know but you never do that," Ryuu argued. He emphasised the you and it was true. Close business partners and employees he worked with regularly always insisted that he called them by their first names because they'd known each other for years. He always refused though. He never felt comfortable around anyone except for his family and now, Sakura.

Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair. He had to come up with some excuse to get out of this one or Ryuu will start to get ideas.

"She's Eriol's girlfriend so she's close to our family," Syaoran said. "Don't you like her?"

Ryuu's head fell onto his arm. "No, I like her," he whispered. "I like her a lot."

A soft smile spread across Syaoran's face as he looked down at Ryuu who had passed out.

"Me too."


End file.
